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CHAMPAIGN,     IU.INOI5V 


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CHICAGO. 


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Contents. 


Biographical  Sketch 

Proceedings  of  Public  Bodies: 

'  ■       City  Council 30 

County  Board 32 

Bar  Association 33 

Appellate  Court " 

Iroquois  Club •. 5?' 

Chicago  Historical  Society .' 78 

Public  Library 81  v 

Union  College  of  Law 83 

Faculty  of  the  College  of  Law -84 

'    Cniversitv  of  Chicago '. 85 

Astronomical  Society ._...^.^.i 87 

Hahnemann  Medical  College •  88 

Calumet  Club .' 88 

Memori.\l  Sketch  by  Prof.  Swing , J..  89 

Letters  of  Condqi.ence:  •   -.  .  ■         . 

•          Moses  B.  ISLaclay .\...  93 

William  F.  Vilas 9.1 

E.  B.  Washbuine .■....., 97 

John  Wentworth ..;. 97 

^-     H.  W.  Blodgett , .;..? ■    98 

Samuel  M.  Moore '. 99 

Lambert  Tree.. 100 

Perry  H.  Smith ^ 101 

S.  M.  CuUom :,.:....  103 

Memorial  Service: 

-  •   Discourse  by  Rev.  Dr.  Burroughs '. '. 103' 

Address  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lorimer .....:..„. 123 


I'OEM  BY   El'UENE  J.  HALI.. 


N 


a^  ^"^ 


V- 


aAHNARO  1,    GUNTHORP,    PRINTERS,    CHICACO. 


■-rrf-,^ 


\        •  f. 


•vX- 


Biographical  $Ketcl;i. 


^T  IS  LITTLE  that  written  or  spoken    memorials 
can    do    to    preserve    or    reflect    the    traits    of    so 
strong  and  original  a  character  as  the  late  Thomas 
'  Sm    Hoyne.      More    than    most   men,   Mr.   Hoyne  was,     •:"■'     ..      ,     ■• 
*      in  all  things,  characterized  by  a  strong  and  strik-  -•       . 

J       ing  individuality.     It  was  an  individuality  that  per-       \'  ••■■ 

vaded    his    entire    character;    it  gave    "form  and  .  . 

pressure"  to  his  thought;  it  inspired  his  words,  often  of     .'    -        /  • 
wonderful    eloquence,    and    transformed    his    action    and       .■  .'  ' 
.'presence.      Except  in  the    memory  of    those  who    have-       -        i  ^^jj^S 
been  personal  witnesses  of  it,  and  have  experienced  its     ■;   . ;     '  . 
spell,  that  individuality  has  forever  vanished.     Death  has       ■"  .     ,    •:  r 
done  his  work  too  surely  to  allow  arty  power  to  snatch      .-.    '     1  .;    ; 
back  from  its  grasp- the  noble  gifts  v^hich  it    has    con-  ■    .  • /■. 

signed  forever  to  the  silence  of  the  tomb.     But  not  all  "      '. 

that  made  up  the  life  of  our  lamented  friend  has  death       ■.-;:■■.;' 
thus   extinguished.       He  '■'■  rests,  fr-om  his  labors,  but  his    ■'■■■ 
works  do  follozu  him.'''     The  principles  that  he  advocated,     •,      '  -  .';V., 
the  deeds  that  he  wrought,  live  after  him.     Incorporated     ,'',■"■    .- .■; 
into  the    life  of    the  state,  the    municipality,  the    nation,-       '.;     ■    '.    ,^,\ 
they   will  continue  to  be  vital  and  fruitful  through  sue-      *■'■  .'-.  ' 
ceeding  generations.        '•;'';'       !  /      ^      '■.'•■     J'-'.-; 

The  addresses  and  memorial  notices  called  forth  by  his     J     .   ,. '; 
deatli,  which  are  brought  together  in  the  following  pageSj 
present  a  very  full  and  able  review  of  Mr.  Hoyne's  char-      ■  •' .  : 

acter•^and  life  work.     From  the  different  standpoints  of     ..'      .- 

.  ■  ■  '■   .  *•■ 


Y: 


dirterent  professions,  men  who  had  known  him  long  and 
intimately  have  placed  in  varying  lights  different  phases 
of  his  character  and  the  salient  events  of  his  career. 
No  higher  evidence  of  the  exalted  place  which  he  held 
in  public  confidence  and  affection  was  possible  than  these 
spontaneous  tributes  in  which  men  so  well  qualified  to 
speak,  gave  utterance,  not  only  to  their  own,  but  to  the 
universal  sentiment  of  the  community  in  which  he  passed 
his  life.  With  little  to  add  to  what  is  contained  in  those 
tributes,  and  at  the  risk  of  seeming  only  to  repeat  what 
had  been  better  said,  it  is  still  thought  best  that  a  con- 
nected outline  of  Mr.  Hoyne's  life  should  here  be  given. 

Thomas  Hoyne  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on 
the  1  ith  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1817.  His  parents  had 
emigrated  to  this  country,  from  Ireland,  two  jears  pre- 
viously. His  father  died  in  1829,  and  his  mother  the  year 
foUowinif.  Thomas  was  the  elder  of  seven  children.  He 
attended  St.  Peter's  school,  in  New  York,  till  the  death 
of  his  parents  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  work  for  his 
own  livelihood.  He  was  therefore  apprenticed  in  1830 
to  a  manufacturer  of  fancy  goods.  He  remained  in  this 
position  for  four  or  five  years,  during  ail  of  wliicli  time  hi.s 
strong  desire  to  tit  himself  for  something  higher,  and  a 
natural  taste  for  books,  led  him  to  devote  ever}'  spare 
moment  to  mental  improvement.  lie  marked  out  for 
himself  a  course  of  study  in  those  branches  in  which  he 
thought  he  was  most  deficient,  and  applied  himself  with 
patience  and  energy  to  the  task,  the  accomplishment  of 
which  he  then  felt  to  be  necessary  to  his  future  success  in 
life.  In  this  he  was^ncouraged  b}-  the'  kindl}'  interest  of 
the  late  Rev.  Archibald  Maclay  and  his^Jaffiilh-,  whose 
friendship  and  sympath}'  in  this  time  of  need  he  never 
'torgot,    and  to  the  last  loved  to  refer  to  with  expressions 


1 


■  '•"     .-.ci-  -.,    /  , 


■■'"■■:  ^^.  ■■■■■-■  ••  ■  ^  ■:^--vj^,;^:;,^-v:: 

of    gratitude.     Writing    in   June,   1882,   to    Mr.    Robert  fi 

Maclay,  of  New  York,  on  the  occasion   of  the  death  of  ;i       '   ., 
the  late    Hon.   Wm.   B.  Mdclay,  Mr.  Hoyne  referred  to  '  j^ 

this  early  friendship  as  follows:  ..• 

"Among  the  njany  early,  and  most  of  them  distinguished, 
associates  of  my  early  life,  I  know  of  no  one  to  whom  I  was    .  ;  ■  .  -;  ••' 
personally  more  indebted  for  that  friendship  which  assisted  my 


fortunes  at  their  greatest  need  than  to  your  highly  distinguished       ,'fl- 
uncle,  the  late  Hon.  William  B.  Maclay.     He  first  encouraged         ^ 
my  dearest  youthful  aspirations  to  study  the  law  as  a  profession-.- 
He  aided  me  also  in  the  acquirement  of  an  education  which  I 
lacked,  and  he  always  tendcred'me  a  cordial,  kind  and 'generous  .•      ., 
support.  ' 

"You  knmy,  .perhaps, .  that  at  a  veryearlj  age  I  was  left  an     .     . 
orphan  in  New  York,  destitute  of  resources.     I  had  no  means 
whatever,  and  I  had  no  family  of  friends  to  whom  I 'could  look 
for  a  support  Qr  dependeiice.   In  other  words,  my  future  depended  • 

upon  any  unknown  qualifications  I  might  be  found  to  develop, 
if  I   ever  found  my  place  in  life,  by  entering  upon  some  career    -.  ■ ;. 
of  usefulness.     Having  never  been  trained  in  any  regular  school, 
and  having  therefore  attained  to  no  ]jlace  of  education,  1  had 
before  me  the  stupendous  undertakingito  qualify  my.self  to  enter  , 
upon  the  study  of  a  profession,  such  as-the  law,  without  a  defi-     . 

■  nite  hope  6f  success.     A  happy  train  of  coincidences  (not  neces-  ,; 
sary  to  relate)  threw  me  into  the  society  of  your  uncle  William, 
his  brother  Moses,  still  living,  and  your  fatjier,  the  late  Robert 

.  Maclay;  and  I  found  a  home  under  their  father's  roof.  Your  .  '; 
grandfather  (Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Maclay)  waskriownand  revered  i  ' 
throughout  the  United  States  before  Chicago  had  a  municipal  '  ■ 
beginning  or  name,  as  one  of  the  most  eminent  Baptist  divines, 
as  well  as  learned  expositors  of  the  Bible.  He  lived  on  East 
Broadway  in  1835,  when  I  was  in  the  family  for  a  period  of  two  . 
years,  and  up  to  the  time  I  left  New  York  to  try  my  fortunes  in 
Chicago.  During  those  two  years  I  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  • 
intimacy  of  the  large  and  intelligent  family  that,  as  yoii  know, 
at  that  time  comprised  the  Maclay  household      Among  thAi  I 


\' 


was,  enabled  to  cultivate,  througn  their  intercourse,  the  rneans 
that  obtained  me  some  knowledge  of  the  classics,  and  the  rudi- 

'  ments  of  a  sound  English  education.  And  upon  that  knowledge 
I  afterwards  qualified  myself  in  yhicago  to  enter  the  legal  pro- 

.   fession  in  1839."  •  .  ]. 

:  While  yet  an  apprentice  his   thirst    for    knowledge  led 

him  to  join  a  "  literary  association,"  which  at  that  time 
included  in  its  list  of  members  a  company  of  poor  young 
men  and  boys  who  were  afterwards  known  to  fame  as 
Judge  George  Manierre,  Horace  Greeley,  Judge  Charles 
P.  Daly,  Hon.  W.  B.  Maclay  and  Moses  B.  Maclay.  An 
association  with  such  minds  could  not  but  be  of  great 
benefit,  and  it  was  in  their  company  that  Mr.  Hoyne  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  power  as  a  speaker,  and  saw  open- 
ing before  him  an  honqrable  life  career.  He  boldly 
decided  to  prepare  for  the  bar.  To  this  end  he  attended 
night  school,  studied  Latin,  Greek  and  the  English 
branches,  and  faithfully  applied  himself  to  the  task  of  de- 
veloping his  mental  powers  to  a  fitness  for  the  profession 
he  had  in  view.  His  apprenticeship  ended  in  1835,  and 
he  then  entered  a  jobbing  house  on  a  salary  sufficient  to 
enable  him  to  pursue  his  studies. 

In  1836  Mr.  Ho\'ne  formally  began  his  career  by  en- 
tering the  office  of  the  late  Judge  Brinkerhoft",  of  New 
York.  He  remained  there  till  late  in  the  summer  of 
1837,  when  he  left  New  York  for  what  was  then  the  "  Far 
West,"  and  at  the  end  of  a  month's  journey  landed  at  the 

■  almost  unknown  city  of  Chicago.  In  an  address  deliv- 
ered before  the  Chicago  Bar  Association  on  the  evening 
of  February  loth,  1881,  entitled,  "  The  Lawyer  as  a  Pi- 
onee^r,"  he  thus  graphically  describes  his  arrival: 

'"  I  left  New  York  City  while  a  student  at  law,  on  the  i  ith  day 
orAugust,  1837,  and  1  reached  Chicago  on  the  nth  day  of  Sep- 


UNii 


^^6 


^»l 


tember.     One  month  was  consumed  on  the  way,  witho^t^BAkifn?  ■* 

any  unnecessary  delay  at  any  point  except  at  Detroit,  wijg^f)» 
took  passage  on  tlie  brig   jf^ohn  H.  Kinzie,  which   landed 
after  a  two  week's  tempestuous  passage,  at  one  of  the  two  only 
docks  then  ujwn  the  Chicago  River  I 

"These  docks  were  on  the  north  side,  immediately  adjoin- 
ing the  site  of  the  present  Rush  Street  bridge.  Here  was 
then  the  great  tavern  or  hotel  known  as  the  Lake  House,  just 
erected.  There  was  also  to  be  seen  the  tower  of  St.  James  Epis- 
copal church — then  the  only  brick  meeting  house  in  Chicago. 
Just  previous  to  the  great  fire,  you  might  have  seen  the  same 
tower  covered  over  with  commercial  signs — -advertising  flour  and 
provisions — not  that  heavenly  food  for  whose  dispensation  it  was 
originally  built.  At  that  day,  all  the  fashionable  storea,  the 
leading  society  people,  and  the  handsomest  dwelling-houses, 
were  on  the  north  side.  It  indeed  strongly  insisted  upon  being 
the  main  ^ide  and  future  City. 

"But 'I  did  not  stay  long  on  that  side.  Chicago  River  was 
crossed  at  Dearborn  Street  by  the  only  bridge,  with  a  draw 
raised  by  chains  and  a  crank ;  and  to  that  bridge  I  hurried  ujwn 
that  September  afternoon.  My  objective  point  was  the  Chicago 
,ttourt  house,  or  clerk's  office,  where  I  was  to  find  the  earliest 
friend  and  companion  of  my  boyhood,  the  late  George  Manierre, 
who  was  then  deputy  of  the  Circuit  court  clerk,  Col.  Hamilton. 
We  had  parted  in  sorrow  from  each  other,  two  years  betbre,  at  a 
dock  in  New  York.  As  I  sped  on  my  way,  on  foot,  with  satchel 
in  hand,  along  the  high,  rank  grass  of  streets  newly  opened,  I 
was  fain  to  observe  the  length  of  the  streets  laid  out  without 
either  sidewalk  or  house.  I  stood  upon  that  antique  bridge.  I 
looked  toward  the  junction  of  the  streams,  up  to  what  is  now 
West-Water  street,  and  for  the  first  time,  caught  glimpses  of  that 
mighty  land — '  the  far-off  West'  of  my  imagination — it  had  gilded 
my  dreams  of  the  future,  and  bfaunded  every  possibility  of  my 
life.  I  stood  upon  that  antique  bridge,  and  recalled  Byron's 
Bridge  of  Sighs,  but  instead  of  '  a  prison  and  a  palace,'  here  was 
a  bridge  with  a  past  and  future  upon  each  hand. 

"  All   along  these   level  banks  and  beyond  these    river  shores 


>> 


lO 


>-hone  the  brightest  of  skies,  b3nding  down  upon  those  unten- 
anted fields — wild  in  their  vastness  and  glory — the  same  as  they 
had  appeared  to  human  eyes  for  thousands  of  years  !  Here  was 
the  dreamland  of  the  poet  Bryant !  and  here  those  prairies  he 
had  enshrined  forever  in  immortal  song.  Here  was  the  Garden 
City:  — 

"These  arc   the  gardens  of  the   desert —  •  '  ^ 

These  the  unshorn  fields,      ■  j    " 

Where  lingers  yet  the  beauty  of  the  earth  ' 

'Ere  man  had  sinned. 

I   bclield  them  lor  the  first,  and  my   lieart  swelled  \ 

While  the  dilated  sight  took  in  the  encircling  vastness  I  j 

Lo!  they  stretch  in  airy  undulations  far  away, 
As  if  Ocean,  in  her  gentlest  swell,  stood  still 
With  all  her  rounded  billows  fixed  and  motionless  forever! ' 

•'  I  reached  that  corner  of  Randolph  and  Clark  streets — the 
open  field,  or  court-house  scjuare  !  which  appeared  like  an  out- 
lying forty-acre  tract  of  this  day  in  some  addition  or  suburb. 
.\nd  here  stood  boldly  out  the  columned  Greek  portico  of  the 
court-house,  or  clerk's  office,  clear  pine  and  white  lead,  in  class- 
ical outline.  It  was  as  near  a  sketch  of  the  Parthenon  at  Athens 
as  a  boy's  sketch  in  charcoal  would  resemble  an  original.  The 
main  front  faced  upon  Clark  street.  Its  broad  stairways  and 
double  doors  led  up  into  a  long  room,  fifty  feet  wide.  Here 
was  my  old  friend,  George  Manierre,  deputy  derk,  alone  among 
the  papers  and  records  of  the  clerk's  office,  of  which  he  seemed 
sole  custodian.     We  had  a  joyous  meeting." 

On  his  arrival  in  Chicago  Mr.  Hoyne  at  once  found 
cmplo\'ment  in  the  Circuit  court  clerk's  office  with  his 
\oung  yet  old  friend,  Judge  Manierre,  at  the  munificent 
salar\'  of  ten  doUars  per  week,  which  stood  to  him  in  place^,^-" 
of  a  fortune.  Here  he  found  time  to  pursue  his  study  of 
the  law,  and  opportunities  for  becoming  acquainted  with 
its  practical  workings.  How  well  he  improved  these 
opportunities  is  shown  bj'  his  subsequent  career.  There 
was  little  in  the  Chicago  of  that  early  day  to  distract  the 


attention  of  a  mind  bent  on  stud}'.  Isolated  as  they  were 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  iis  residents  were  thrown 
upon  their  own  resources  for  entertainment  and  instruc- 
tion.' But  some  of  them  were  men  of  abilit}-,  education, 
and  even  genius.  These  leading  minds  had  formed  a 
literary  society,  with  which  Mr.  Hoyne  soon  connected 
himself,,  and  ere  long  his  voice  was  often  heard  in  their 
discussions;  liis  genial  manner,  evident  sincerity,  and  the 
mental  vigor  that  found  expression  in  his  speeches,  win- 
ning for  him  a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow 
members.  In  the  year  1838  he  taught  a  public  school, 
one  of  the  first  organized  in  Chicago.  But  an  experience 
of  four  months  sutliced  to  convince  him  that  nature  had 
not  intended  him  for  that  vocation,  and  he  retired.  His 
name  still  stands  out,  however,  in  prominent  as  well  as 
permanent  identification  witii  the  educational  interests  of 
Chicago,  the  "Thomas  Iloyne"  public  school,  on  Illinois 
street,  having  been  named  in  his  honor.  Leaving  the 
school  room  in  1838,  he  resumed  his  legal  studies,  enter- 
ing the  office  of  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon,  with  whom  he 
formed  a  friendship  that  continued  unbroken  till  the  end 
of  his  life.  In  1839  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession. 

Mr.  Iloyne  had  brought  with  him  a  letter  from  his 
friend,  Rev.  Archibald  Maclay,  to  Dr.  John  T.  Temple, 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Chicago.  He  was  received  with 
great  cordiality,  and  became  a  frequent  visitor  at  the 
Temple  home,  a  two-story  frame  house,  built  by  Dr. 
Temple,  on  Lake  street,  near  FrankHn,  which,  in  those 
early  days,  ranked  as  an  elegant  mansion.  Dr.  Temple 
was  a  highly  educated  and  accomplished  gentleman,  who 
came  from  Washington  in  1S33  to  tr\'  the  invigorating 
air  of  the  frontier  on  impaired  health.     Bringing  with  him 


$ 


13 


a  moderate  capital,  he  entered  into  contract  with  the  gov- 
ernment to  carry  the  United  States  mails  from  Chicago  to 
Springfield,  and  afterwards  was  largelj'  interested  in  con- 
tracts in  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal. 

Mr.  Hoyne's  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Temple's  family 
ripened  into  a  permanent  relation  by  his  marriage  to 
Leonora,  the  eldest  daughter,  on  September  17,  1840,  a 
relation  to  which  he  was  ever  wont  to  refer  as  the  found- 
ation of  what  was  happiest  in  his  life,  and  a  chief  factor 
in  the  success  to  which  he  attained. 

In  1840  Mr.  Hoyne  was  elected  on  the  democratic 
ticket  as  city  clerk.  The  salary  of  the  office  at  that  time 
was  only  four  hundred  dollars,  per  j-ear,  but  in  those 
primitive  days  this  was  a  sum  sufficient  for  a  comfortable 
family  living.  The  expenses  of  living  then  were  very 
small,  as  compared  with  the  necessaries  of  life  to-day. 
The  products  of  the  farm  were  brought  b}'  ihe  farmers 
themselves  to  the  doors  of  the  people  in  the  oft-described 
"  prairie  schooner,"  and  the  vendors  were  only  too  glad 
to  dispose  of  their  wares  at  prfces  that  would  suffice  to 
supply  very  modest  wants  at'home.  'There  were  then  no 
middlemen  to  take  a  large  share  of  the  profits,  and  no 
railroads  to  carry  away  the  surplus  supply  to  an  eastern 
HTarket.  The  Chicago  citizen  of  that  day  was  perforce 
simple  in  his  habits.  He  could  not  be  extravagant  if  he 
would,  as  what  are  now  regarded  as  the  luxuries  of  life 
could  not  be  obtained  at  any  price,  and  the  same  was  true 
of  not  a  few  things  which  are  looked  upon  as  necessaries 
to  civilized  existence  in  the  present  day.  Nevertheless  the 
people  were  happy.  The  experience  of  those  early  set- 
tlers, as  since  related  by  themselves,  shows  that  they 
understood  the  philosophy  which  was  voiced  by  an 
English  poet,  who  wrote:  j 


* 


"  'Tis  not  in  titles  nor  in  rank,   ■  '  . 

'Tis  not  in  wealth  in  London  bank, 
■   j     "       .      To  ease  the  soul's  unrest.  '  , 

If  happiness  have  not  her -seat  '  ■         \   4 

And  centre  in  the  breast,  s  . ; 

We  may  be  wise,  or  rich  or  great,  .^v   • 

Bui  never  can  be  blest."  .      "    •  .".  y.    ■ 

In  1 84 1,  Mr.  Hoyne,  as  city  clerk,  wrote  the  memorial 
which  was  presented  to  Congress,  asking  for  increased 
appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  the  Chicago  har- 
bor, a  document  which  is  full  of  interest,  giving  in  brief  a 
picture  of  the  commercial  importance  of  the  cit}%  and  the 
business  distress  which  prevailed  here,  in  the  first  few 
years  that  followed  the  municipal  organization.  The  dis- 
tress he  then  so  graphically  portrayed  seems  to  have  dis- 
couraged him,  as  in  the  fall  of  1842  he  removed  to 
Galena,  whose  mining  enterprises  were  then  attracting 
many  seekers  after  fortune,  and  promised  to  make  it  the 
great  city  of  the  west.  After  a  two  years'  trial,  however, 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  and  never  thenceforth  swerved 
in  allegiance  to  the  cit}'  of  his  earlier  adoption.  The  ne.\t 
two  3ears  of  his  life  present  no  incidents  that  call  for 
special  mention  here.  During  1847-48-49  he  held  the 
office  of  probate  justice  of  the  peace,  but  the  duties  of  the 
office  did  not  interfere  with  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
the  probate  business  of  the  count}-  being  then  so  small 
that  all  the  records  and  papers  were  kept  in  a  few  pigeon- 
holes in  an  ordinary  desk.  In  1853  he  received  from 
President  Pierce  an  appointment  to  the  office  of  United 
States  District  Attorney  for  Illinois,  and  in  1859  ^^^  made 
United  States  Marshal  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illi- 
nois, in  place  jof  a  defaulting  incumbent.  The  last  named 
appointment  was  made  without  the  knowledge  or  consent 
of    Mr.    Hoyne,    and   it   was  at   the   personal    request  of 


•t. 


,:/•■ 


14 

Judge  Drummond  that  he  was  induced  to  accept  the 
office  for  the  unexpired  term  and  assume  the  task  of 
bringing  order  out  of  the  confusion  which  his  predecessor 
had  left  behind.  As  marshal  he  superintended  the  taking 
of  the  census  of  i860  in  the  Northern  district  of  the  state. 
As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Hoyne  grew  with  the  growth  of  the 
city.  While  yet  a  young  attorney  he  was  recognized  as 
a  man  of  intense  earnestness  and  unbending  will.  What- 
ever he  assumed  to  do,  l)e  did  with  all  his  might.  In 
those  days  the  interests  involved  in  litigations  were  not 
often  large,  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  and  the  practice  was 
necessarily  a  general  one,  there  being  no  specialties. 
Every  lawyer  was  ready  and  glad  to  devote  his  attention 
to  criminal,  patent  or  admiralty  cases.  The  criminal  prac- 
tice was  very  different  then  from  what  it  is  to-daj'.  In 
that  branch  the  rising  j'oung  men  of  the  profession  in 
Chicago  saw  their  best  opportunity  to  attain  distinction, 
and  in  that  arena  were  made  the  brilliant  displaj's  of 
oratory  which  attracted  tlie  attention  of  the  people.  Mr. 
Hoyne  took  his  full  share  of  the  practice,  and  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  successful  criminal  lawyer  extended  through  the 
state.  His  forcible  style  of  speaking,  and  the  animation 
of  his  whole  figure,  his  emphatic  gestui^e  and  flashing 
eyes  carried  with  them  the  conviction  of  earnestness  and 
sincerit}-  on  the  part  of  the  orator — a  conviction  always 
potent  with  the  jury  as  well  as  with  the  popular  audience. 
But  as  the  population  of  the  city  increased,  the  criminal 
practice  gradually  look  on  new  phases  that  were  not 
agreeable  with  his  methods  as  a  lawj'er,  or  his  sense  of 
right,  and  he  left  that  field  to  others,  preferring  to  devote 
his  attention  to  a  business  involving  important  questions 
of  commercial  and  real  estate  law.  But  his  power  as  an 
advocate  did  not  diminish,  and  he  never  yielded  his  place 


■i5.    ." 

in  the  front  rank  of  orators.  His  jjreat  strength,  how- 
ever, lay  in  that  complete  mastery  of  a  case  which  is 
generally  achieved  at  tlie  desk,  and  by  a  survey  of  the 
authorities  whose  wisdom  is  found  crystallized  in  the 
volumes  of  the  law  library.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
his  energies  were  devoted  to  work  of  much  more  than 
temporary  interest,  the  value  of  which  is  least  understood 
by  the  world  outside,  but  is  recognized  by  the  profession 
as  the  most  valuable  and  enduring  part  of  a  lawyer's  life 
work. 

Mr.  Hoyne  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  politics 
of  his  country.  He  read  much  and  thought  much  on  all 
the  great  questions  that  were  discussed  in  his  time,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who,  through  a  long  life,  are  true 
to  their  principles  and  consistent  in  their  conduct.  First 
of  all,  he  was  a  tiioroughlj-  patriotic  American  citizen. 
The  good  of  his  country  was  the  foundation  stone  upon 
which  he  built,  and  he  advocated  those  principles  and 
measures  that  he  believed  to  be  for  her  best  interests. 
He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Mexican  war;  but  on 
the  passage  of  the  Wilmot  proviso,  prohibiting  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  in  any  territory  acquired  from  Mexico,  he 
became  what  was  then  known  as  a  •'  free  soiler,"  and 
supported  Van  Buren  and  Adams  on  the  Bufi'alo  platform 
in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1848.  He  was  a  presi- 
dential elector  on  the  ticket,  and  was  the  leading  advocate 
of  it  during  that  campaign,  especiallj^  in  the  northern  half 
of  Illinois.  As  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  he  had  previously  read  at  a  mass  meeting 
an  able  address  to  the  people  on  the  issues  of  the  day, 
which  was  widely  circulated.  In  that  address  he  pro- 
tested, in  bold  and  outspoken  language,  against  the  further 
encroachments  of  human  slavery,  appealing  to  the  demo- 


i6 

tratic  masses  of  the  States  with  all  his  earnestness  and 
power  of  argument.  The  attitude  which  he  then  assumed 
on  this  great  national  issue  he  maintained  consistently  to 
the  last.  At  the  same  time  when,  in  1857,  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  and  the  bill  for  the  abolition  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  were  brought  forward  bv  Mr.  Douglas,  he 
■became  an  earnest  advocate  of  those  measures,  holding  in 
common  with  many  able  anti-slavery  men,  that  the  effect 
would  be  to  restrict  instead  of  e.xtending  the  domain  of 
slavery.  In  the  campaign  of  1856,  he  took  an  active  part, 
traveling  throu<fh  the  northern  counties  of  Illinois  and 
making  ringing  speeches  in  favor  of  the  democratic  cause, 
often  speaking  in  company  with  Douglas,  who  was  hisin- 
limate  friend.  It  was  during  this  campaign  that  his  fame 
«s  a  political  orator  reached  its  zenith,  and  he  rose  to 
national  recognition  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  part}'. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  found  Mr. 
Hoyne  in  exact  accord  with  his  friend  Douglas  in  regard 
to  the  duty  of  a  citizen  in  that  crisis.  The  question  was 
for  or  against  the  constitution  and  the  old  flag,  not  as  be- 
tween republicans  and  democrats,  and  he  felt  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  join  with  other  good  citizens  in  sustaining  the 
government.  He  responded  to  the  call  in  all  sincerity, 
and  no  man  in  Chicago  was  more  earnest  or  more  ener- 
getic in  the  effort  to  arouse  public  sentiment  to  a  deter- 
mination that  the  Union  must  be  preserved,  and  direct 
the  popular  opinion  towards  the  ignoring  of  minor  mat- 
ters when  great  issues  were  at  stake.  '  As  a  prominent 
and  influential  democrat,  he  was  invited  to  address  the 
people  at  mass  meetings,  and  in  company  with  the  other 
leading  men  of  his  party  he  urged  all  good  citizens,  with- 
out distinction  of  political  creed,  to  sustain  the  govern- 
ment and  assist  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.     The  value 


■     17  :- 

of  his  services  at  that  critical  time  was  recognized  and 
appreciated  by  his  fellow  citizens.  He  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Union  Defense  Committee,  and  wrote  the 
well  known  appeal  which  was  addressed  by  that  body  to 
the  people  of  the  State.  He  was  on  the  committee  that 
visited  President  Lincoln  to  urge  a  campaign  down  the 
Mississippi  in  1862.  He  was  unswerving  in  his  advocacy 
of  the  cause  of  the  Union  till  the  perpetuity  of  that 
Union  was  established  by  the  surrender  of  the  Southern 
armies.  During  the  whole  of  that  long,  dark  period  of 
civil  war,  every  emanation  from  his  pen,  and  every  word 
from  his  mouth,  had  the  unmistakable  ring  of  patriotism  and 
loyalty  to  the  government.  It  is  but  justice  to  his  memor\' 
that  this  fact  should  be  emphasized;  as  a  few  3'ears  after- 
wards, when  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  strife  were  over, 
and  the  issues  of  war  had  given  place  to  the  great  ques- 
tions involved  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  government, 
Mr.  Hoyne,  in  common  with  man}'  whose  loyalty,  like  his, 
had  been  tried  as  by  fire,  incurred  the  odium  of  the 
opposite  party,  and  in  the  heat  of  partisan  contest,  such 
terms  as  "copperhead"  and  "traitor"  fell  thickly  but 
harmlessly  about  him.  We  scarcely  need  to  add  that  he 
lived  long  enough  to  see  the  wisdom  of  his  course  ampl^' 
vindicated,  and  his  name  honored  as  borne  by  a  man  whose 
loyalty  and  patriotism  had  never  wavered. 

In  the  controversy  between  Congress  and  President 
Johnson,  Mr.  Hoyne's  sympathies  were  with  the  latter. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Conservative  Convention  held 
at  Philadelphia  in  1866.  He  supported  Horace  Greele\" 
in  1872,  and  represented  the  First  Illinois  District  in  the 
electoral  college.  Two  years  later  he  acted  with  the 
so-called  "  opposition,"  and  aided  in  drawing  up  the  call 
of  the  Democratic  State  Comhiittee  in  Chicago  embody- 


i8 

ing  a  specie  plank,  free  commerce-,  civil  rights  and  other 
issues,  which  was  received  with  great  favor  by  the  lead- 
ing journals  of  his;  party.  In  1S70,  he  was  nominated  by 
acclamation  for  Congress,  but  declined  to  run,  whereupon 
Hon.  John  Wentworth  was  nominated  in  his  stead. 

In  1876  Mr.  Hoyne  was  elected  mayor  of  Chicago.  He 
had  been  nominated  for  the  oftice  b}-  an  overwhelming 
^  majority  at  a  time  when  the  citv  had  suffered  so  severelv 
frpm  the  rule  of  corruptionists  as  to  be  threatened  with 
financial  ruin,  and  the  good  men  of  all  parties  joined  in 
an  effort  to  cleanse  the  Augean  stable.  In  choosing  him 
as  the  man  for  the  work,  they  paid  him  the  highest  com- 
pliment that  can  be  bestowed  upon  an  American  citizen, 
and  it  was  regarded  by  him  as  the  best  possible  approval 
of  liis  life  and  character,  which  had  been  an  open  book 
to  the  people  of  the  cit^'  for  nearly  forty  5'ears.  A  sketch 
of  his  life,  published  bv  the  Chicago  Alliance  of  April  4, 
1881,  refers  to  this  election  in  the  following  complimen- 
tary terms: 

Thurc  was  a  time  when  this  great  city,  with  all  its  unexamijled 
growth  and  prosperity,  was  in  danger  of  financial  ruin  and  moral 
bankruptcy.  In  1876  Chicago  was  a,wakened  to  the  fact  that 
she  had  long  been  ruled  by  an  unscrupulous  ring  of  thieving 
])oliticians.  which  received  its  support  from  a  class  of  the  com- 
munity not  unlike  that  which  kept  Tweed  in  ])ower  in  New  York 
City  for  so  long  a  time,  and  saddled  that  city  with  a  financial 
burden,  and  gave  its  government  a  notoriety  that  has  passed 
into  a  ])roverl).  We  say  that  Chicago  was  awakened  to  her 
danger,  awakened  only  just  in  time  to  avert  ruin,  awakened 
mainly  by  the  efforts  of  the  man  whose  name  stands  at  the  heail 
of  this  sketch. 

The  story  is  an  interesting  tliough  familiar  one.      H.  D.  Col-      •^ 
vin  was  mayor  of  the  city  at  the  time.       He  had  inherited  from 
-preceding  administrations  a  he(|uest  of  debt  and  had  manage- 


^9 


ment,  and  was  hedged  about  by  precedents  wliich  he  liad  not 
the  wisdom  or  energy  to  set  aside.  Precedents- involving  large 
running  expenses,  extravagant  appropriations,  and  a  reckless 
financial  ))olicy.  His  administration  inaugurated  the  system  of 
meeting  the  illegal  debt  of  the  city  by  an  equally  illegal  issue  of 
scrip,  but  was  unequal  to  the  broad  statesmanship  of  immediate 
retrenchment  of  municipal  expenses  and  refunding  the  debt  so 
that  it  might  comfortably  be  carried.  -    '  ;  J,  . 

As  we  have  said,  ruin  star.ed  Chicago  in  the  face.  Extrava- 
gance and  incompetence  and  rascality  threatened  the  city.  Tax- 
ation had  become  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  .  The'name  of  Chicago, 
prosperous  and  lusty  as  the  city  was,  was  fast  becoming  a  by- 
word for  misrule.  It  was  a  crisis  in  her  history.  Had  the 
reigning  state  of  affairs  continued,  there  is  no  manner  of  doubt 
but  that  some  other  city  would  have  become  the  metropolis  of 
the  west.  Capital  and  enterprise  do  not  gravitate  to  any  city 
overburdened  with  taxation,  cursed  by  misrule  and  threatened 
with  financial  trf)ubles.  There  is  always  a  man  for  every  emer- 
gency, and  in  Chicago's  hour  of  need  Thomas  Hoyne  came  to 
the  front.  Through  his  efforts  the  Municipal  Reform  Club  was 
organized,  and  in  a  very  short  t^me  it  succeeded  in  arousing  the 
people  to  a  sense  of  the  dangers  which  threatened  them.  An 
American  community,  and  especially  a  Chicago  community,  en- 
grossed with  their  private  business  affairs,  are  slowly  aroused  to 
a  sense  of  public  danger ;  but  when  they  are  aroused,  no  people 
in  the  world  act  so  quickly  or  so  effectively.' 

Tiie  Reform  Club  called  a  mass  meeting  of  the  citizens,  in  the 
Exposition  building.  Nearly  50,000  men  of  every  political  faith 
gathered  at  that  meeting,  which  resolved  to  take  energetic  mean.s 
to  abate  the  growing  evil  of  municipal  misrule.  Mr.  Hoyne  ' 
was,  at  the  meeting,  nominated  for  mayor  on  a  reform  platform, 
and  in  the  election'that  followed  was  nearly  unanimously-elected 
to  the  office.  He  received  a  majority  of  over  33,000,  the  largest 
majority  ever  given  a  municipal  chief  magistrate  in  Chicago. 
There  were  but  eight  hundred  votes  cast  against  him.  Mayor 
Colvin,   the  incumbent  of  the  office,   however,   contested   the 


20 


legality  of  the  election,  and  appealed  to  the  courts.  The  Cir- 
cuit court,  which  really  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  decided, 
by  a  vote  of  three  to  two,  that  the  election  was  illegal.  Mr. 
Hoyne  could,  with  every  prospect  of  success,  have  appealed  to 
the  Supreme  court,  but,  as  his  object  was  to  cleanse  the  city  of 
corruption,  and  not  to  secure  honor  or  place  for  himself,  and  as 
the  Colvin  administration  agreed  to  resign  if  another  election 
were  permitted  without  appeal,  Mr.  Hoyne,  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  good,  assented,  and  refusing  to  allow  the  use  of  his  name, 
Monroe  Heath  was  elected  mayor,  and  Mr.  Jloyne  retired  to 
private  life,  after  having  been  de facto  mayor  for  six  weeks. 

But  the  line  of  policy  marked  out  by  his  inaugural  address 
has  been  followed,  not  only  by  his  successor,  but  by  the  doughty 
Harrison,  and  Chicago's  prosperity  and  place  in  the  nation  is, 
doubtless,  due  to  the  unselfish  and  wise  action  of  Mr.  Hoyne. 

In  his  early  years  distinguished  as  a  criminal  lawyer,  but  of 
late  confining  his  practice  to  the  courts  of  chancery  and  supreme 
courts,  he  has  a  reputation  as  a  lawyer  second  to  few ;  as  a  poli- 
tician wise  antt  influential,  and  as  a  citizen  public  spirited,  he 
will  chiefly  be  remembered,  when  the  history  of  this  city  comes 
-to  be  written,  as  the  man  who  saved  Chicago.  "    '    .. 

The  ground  on  which  the  court  held  the  election  illegal 
was  brielly  that  the  call  for  an  election  hatl^hol  been 
issued  by  the  common  council,  as  required  by  law.  While 
strongly  urged  to  appeal  the  question  to  the  Supreme 
court,  Mr.  Hoyne  was  too  good  a  lawyer  not  to  see  that 
the  decision  was  correct,  and  he  declined  further  contest. 

In  regard  to  his  conduct  as  mayor  we  quote  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  which  were  passed  by  the  r-eform  council 
when  about  to  close  its  year's  work:  i 

"  Resolved,  That  to  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne,  our  excellent  mayor, 
de  facto,  for  the  month  of  May  last,  belongs  the  credit  of  start- 
ing our  municipal  reform. 

'^Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne  our 
thanks  for  the  bold  and  state>manlike  inaugural  address  delivered 


-21         \    ■  ■■  •.;;.-■/ 

before  us,  and  believe  that  the  sentiments  therein  contained  have 
tended  to  guide  this  council  in  measur^  <of  reform  ;  and  while 
we  are  not  able,  legally,  to  return  him  a  compensation  in  money 
for  his  good  advice,  we  do  tender  him  our  sincere  thanks  as 
members  of  the  common  council."  .       •■ 

Active  as  Mr.  Hoyne  was,  in  politics,  he  was  never  an 
office  seeker.  Blest  with  an  intellect  that  was  ever  on  the 
alert  and  never  knew  fatigue,  possessing  a  large  fund  of 
information  gathered  from  extensive  reading  as  well  as 
from  close  association  with  the  best  men  of  the  day,  hav- 
ing an  ardent  love  of  liberty  and  an  unbounded  devotion 
to  his  country-  and  its  institijtions,  he  naturally  took  a  deep 
interest  in  politics,  as  in  every  movement  which  co;icerned 
the  public  welfare.  But  he  had  no  selfish  motives,  and 
sought  no  personal  advancement.  Had  he  really  >desired 
office  he  could  have  attained  the  highest  place  it  was  in 
the  power  of  the  people  to  bestow,  and  that  with  less  of 
effort  on  his  part  than  that  which  he  exerted  in  behalf  of 
other  men  whom  he  deemed  worth}',  and  of  measures  which 
he  thought  would  benefit  the  people  of  the  city,  state,  or 
nation.  He  held  no  office  except  such  as  came  to  him  in 
the  natural  course  of  events,  and  such  as  the  urgency  of 
his  fellow-citizens  and  his  own  convictions  of  duty  com- 
pelled him  to  accept.  He  was  frequentl}'  urged  to  take 
the  nomination  for  Congress.  His  name  was  regularly 
mentioned  for  years,  at  each  succeeding  convention  in  his 
district;  and  in  1881,  when  he  could  undoubtedly  have 
been  elected,  he  firmly  declined.  He  never  for  a  moment 
entertained  the  thought  of  sacrificing  his  principles,  or 
catering  to  popular  whim,  for  the  sake  of  office;  and  hi,s 
innate  nobleness  was  best  shown  in  his  ability  to  refuse 
that  which  is  the  goal  of  ambition  with  not  a  few  of  those 
whom  the  world  has  delighted  to  honor. 


22 

Mr.  Hoyne  showed  less  hesitancy  in  taking  the;  lead  in 
other  directions,  though  always  willing  to  follow,  where 
good  was  to  be  accomplished.  He  was  often  ahead,  not 
for  the  sake  of  distinction,  but,  because  his  natural  fervor 
carried  him  to  the  front,  like  tiie  soldier  who  is  first  in 
the  fray  simply  because  his  comrades  are  less  rapid  tiian 
he  in  the  rush  to  meet  the  enemy.  As  early  as  1850  we 
find  him  elected  president  of  the  Young'  Men's  Associa- 
tion, which  was  then  the  leading  literary  society  of  the 
city.  It  had  collected  a  considerable  library,  and  filled  the 
place  now  occupied  b\'  our  Public  Library'.  It  secured 
prominent  men  to  deliver  lectures  during  the  winter  and 
supply  the  demands  of  early  Chicago  for  literary  food. 
Many  of  the  older  citizens  will  remember  the  conspicuous 
place  in  tiie  public  mind  which  this  association  then  occu- 
pied, and  that  its  presidency  was  a  post  of  no  small  im- 
portance in  the  community.  Mr.  Uoj"ne  was  also  a  life 
member  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  the  Academ}'  of  Sci- 
ences, and  tlie  Chicago  Historical  Society.       ■■  ^-''  1 

When  the  University  of  Chicago  was  founded  in  1857, 
Mr.  Hoyne  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  project.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  continued 
to  act  in  that  capacity  till  the  time  of  his  death.  For 
some  years  succeeding  the  late  Hon.  Wm.,  B~Ogden, 
he  was  president  of  the  board.  Through  aU  the  struggles 
of  tiie  institution  his  time,  advice  and  experience  were  at 
its  service,  and  he  labored  faithfully  to  place  it  upon  a 
firm  foundation.  He  was  also  prominent  in  the  founda- 
tion of  the  law  department,  contributing  $5,000  to  its 
fund,  and  otherwise  laboring  in  its  behalf.  In  recognition 
of  his  services  in  this  direction  the  trustees  of  the  Univer- 
sity, in  September,  1859,  established  a  chair  in  the  fac- 
ulty' under  the  name  of    "  The   Hoyne  Professorship  of 


International  and  Constitutional  Law."  He  was  one  of 
the  few  gentlemen  who  took  the  first  step  in  the  move- 
ment to  found  an  astronomical  observatorj'  in  Chicago, 
and  on  the  organization  of  the  Astronomical  Society  was 
elected  its  secretary,  a  position  which  he  held  continu- 
ously till  the  year  1875.  To  him  belongs  a  large  part  of 
the  credit  of  securing  for  Chicago  the  great  Lalande 
prize  telescope  manufactured  by  Alvin  Clarke  &  Sons,  of 
Boston.  The  object-glass  of  that  instrument,  eighteen  and 
a  half  inches  in  diameter,  was  at  the  time  the  largest  and 
best  in  the  world,  and  has  now  very  few  superiors.  It  had 
been  manufactured  to  the  order  of  the  State  University  of 
Mississippi,  but,  the  war  intervening,  the  State  had  failed 
to  make  payment,  and  the  great  glass  awaited  a  pur- 
chaser. Within  a  few  days  of  the  time  when  they  be- 
came acquainted  with  these  facts  the  small  knot  of  gen- 
tlemen who  afterwards  formed  the  Chicago  Astronomical 
Society  had  authorized  Mr.  Hoyne  to  proceed  to  Boston, 
and  arrange  for  the  purchase  of  the  instrument.  He  went 
there  in  February,  1863,  and  found  that  the  news  of  the 
movement  in  the  West  had  stimulated  the  circulation  of  a 
subscription  in  the  interest  of  the  observatory  at  Cam- 
bridge. He  at  once  called  upon  Mr.  Clarke  and  enquired 
the  price  of  the  glass.  This  Mt^.  Clarke  hesitated  to  state, 
as  he  had  set  his  heart  on  having  his  "  master-piece  "  set 
up  near  his  own  home.  He  did  name  it,  however,  and 
Mr.  IIo}-ne  instantly  replied  that  he  would  take  it  for 
Chicago,  thus  securing  for  his  own  city  a  position  of  the 
first  importance  in  the  world  of  astronomical  research. 
His  action  was  endorsed  b)^  a  speedy  raising  of  the  monev 
required  to  pay  for  the  instrument  and  erect  the  building 
needed  for  its  reception.  The  telescope  was  set  up  in 
[866,   and  has   since  then   abundantly  demonstrated  the 


24      ■■■•■.  ■  I     .-, 

wisdom  of  his  choice  by  the  noble  work  it  has  done  in  the 
cause  of  science.  In  consideration  of  his  eminent  services 
in  the  founding  and  equipment  of  the  Observatory,  he  was 
made  an  honorary  Hfe  director  of  the  Astronomical 
Society.  i ' 

After  the  great  fire  of  1871,  and  while  a  large  part  of 
the  city  was  still  a  heap  of  smouldering  ruins,  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  world  was  extended  to  Chicago  and  ex- 
pressed in  many  practical  forms  of  relief.  Among  others 
the  literary  men  of  Europe  tendered  material  aid  in  re- 
pairing the  loss  of  public  and  private  libraries.  Thomas 
Hughes,  and  other  leading  men  of  letters  in  England,  ap- 
pealed to  autiiors  and  publishers  to  contribute  of  their 
abundance  to  establish  a  librarv  in  Chicagfo.  The  re- 
sponse  was  such  a  generous  one  that  it  soon  became 
necessary  to  organize  a  free  public  library,  as  no  such  in- 
stitution had  existed  in  the  city  previous  to  the  great 
calamity.  Mr.  Iloyne  threw  himselfainto  the  movement 
with  his  customary  energy.  He  spoke  in  its  favor  at  sev- 
eral public  meetings,  in  company  with  Ma\'or  Medill  and 
others;  conducted  the  correspondence  with  the  old  world 
promoters  of  the  enterprise:  helped  to  secure  the  passage 
of  the  necessary  legislation  at  Springfield ;  presided  at  the 
first  meeting  called  to  organize  the  "  Free  Public 
Librar}-,"  and  was  chosen  president  of  its  first  board  of 
directors.  He  served  in  that  capacity  for  several  years, 
and  was  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the  objects 
of  the  library  and  establish  it  on  a  solid  foundation.  He 
resisted  all  attempts  to  cut  down  the  appropriations  for 
its  support,  and  took  advantage  of  every  opportunity  to 
present  its  cause  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the 
people,  as  an  institution  which  he  regarded  as  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings    that  had    ever    been    bestowed    upon 


25  ^  '    •  ■.    ■ 

them.  The  part  which  he  took  in  this  great  work,  is  in 
itself  an  enduring  monument  to  his  memory,  and  entitles  - 
him  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  tiie  people  of  the  cil\'.  In 
1877  he  wrote  a  history  of  the  library  up  to  that  date, 
which  will  be  invaluable  as  a  work  of  reference  in  tiie 
future.  He  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  librjuy  estab- 
lished on  an  enduring  basis,  though  at  times  crippled  by  . 
scant  appropriations,  and  assailed  by  some  who  appeared 
to  be  jealous  of  its  influence  or  fearful  of  its  power. 

It  has  already  been  remarked,  that   Mr.  Hoyne   was  a 
man  of  literary  tastes,  and  large  information  on  a  great 
variety  of  subjects.      His  well  filled  and  carefully  selected 
library  was  not  merely  an  ornament.      He   was  familiar  . 
with  its  contents.     He  was  a  reader  of   books   in   wide 
variety,  and  thought   well  upon    what  he  read.      Poetry, 
history,  science,  philosophy  and  religion,  all  claimed   him 
as  a  student.     He  was  more  familiar  with  the  history  and 
literature  of  ancient  Greece  and   Rome  than  are  many  of  .. 
those  who  pride   themselves   upon   the   advantages  of  a 
classical  education.     He  was  a  lover  of  Shakespeare,  anil 
ever  ready  with  an  apt  quotation  from  his  favorite  author.   -, 
He  had   committed    many    passages  to    memory    in    his  •: 
youth,  and  thev  ever   continued    to   form  a  part  of    his-, 
mental  furniture.     But  his  studies  were  far  from  being 
confined   to   the   domain   of    ancient   thought.      He  kept 
well  abreast    with    the    literary    current.     On    his   table 
could  always  be  found  the  standard   serials  of  the  dayi^ 
and  he  was  ever  read}'  to  discuss  and  express  his  opinion 
upon  the  articles  of  special  interest  which  they  contained.  ' 
He  had  also  read  the  standard  works  of  fiction.     .It  was 
a  matter  of  frequent  surprise  to  his  friends  that,  so  en- 
grossed as  he  always  was  with  active  business,  he  found 
so  much  time  to  read.     But  to  those  who  knew  his  habits 


'I- 
I  ■ 


t 


••  V 


\ 


26 


it  was  no  m3'stei"v.  When  worn  and  wearied  by  the  cares 
._   of  the  day,  he  walked  off  his  mental  languor,  and  came 

-  home  refreshed  bv  vigorous  exercise  to  seek  in  his  books 
.  J,    that  relaxation  which  formed  a  foil   to  his  daily  labors. 

Scarcely  an  evening    passed    without    the  acquisition  of 

some  item  of  knowledge  not  possessed  before,  and  he  was 

often  occupied   with  his   books  till  a  late    hour;    seldom 

\     indeed    retiring    before    midnight,    and    not    infrequently 

v     spending  some  of  the  small  morning  hours  in  his  study. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  man  so  fond  of  books  should 

have   himself    helped   to   make   them.     He   wrote  often, 

and  on   a   great   variety    of    subjects.     He    was  a  rapid 

writer,  but  generally  exerted  himself  only  on  the  spur  of 

-  some  special  occasion.  At  such  times  his  ideas  poured 
in  upon  him  in  such  torrents  that  his  pen  could   scarcely 

•  keep  pace  with  his  thoughts,  and  for  this  reason  his  com- 
positions sometimes  lacked  that  polish  which  results  from 
careful  pruning,  but  at  the  same  time  diminishes  the   fire 

■  and  force  of  an  argument.  He  left  behind  him  a  large 
mass  of  material,  comprising  political  speeches,  literary 
addresses,  legal  reports  and  arguments,  etc.    No  adequate 

•  view  of  the  broad  field  of  discussion  embraced  in  these 
remains  of  his  active  pen  is  here  possible.  We  cannot, 
however,  refrain  in  this  connection,  from  alluding  to  a 
paper  prepared  by  him  in  1848,  as  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  himself,  Dr.  Brainard,  Judge  Skinner, 
and  Judge  Manierre.  It  was  an  address  to  the  Democ- 
racv  of  the  state  in  the  interests  of  free  soil,  and  against 
the  aggressions  of  slavery.  Probably  no  other  production 
that  ever  issued  from  his  pen  bore  in  such  full  measure  the 
stamp  of  his  abilitj'  and  genius,  and  his  friends  may  here- 
.  after  yield  to  a  widely  expressed  wish,  that  this  paper  with 
others  might  be  given  to  the  public  in  permanent  form. 


The  private  life  of  Mr.  Ho3Tie  was  one  of  iHiexcepUon- 
able  kindness  and  purity.     In  all  the  contests  and  antag- 
onisms of  his  professional  and   political  career,  the  bre.ith 
of  scandal  never  touched  his  good  name.     He  wHs  not  onl} 
,  above  reproach,  but  above  suspicion.     He  was  vei^  foici- 
ble  in  his  language  when  denouncing  a  wrong,  as  some  of 
those  who  suffered  from  the  lash  of  his  tongue  can  jet 
testify.     But  in  his  anger  he  did  not  forget  that  he  was  a 
man;  and  never,  even  in  pleasantry,  did   he  lose   sight  of 
his  duty  as  a  Christian  to  abstain  from  impure  allusions. 
Few  ever  presumed  to  use  an  indelicate  expression  m  hi> 
presence,  and  those  who  essaj-ed  it  found  no  encourage- 
ment  to   repeat.     And   even   the  impetuosity  of  manner, 
that  was  so  marked  a  feature  of  his  outer  life,  seemed  to 
take   to  itself  wings   at   the  door  of   his   home.     In  the 
family  he  was  uniformly  mild  and  unrutfled,  and  in  an 
unusual  degree  deferential  to  the  opinions  and  wishes  of 
its  members.     The  few  who  were  privileged  with  an  inti- 
macy close  enough  to  permit   them  to  observe  it,  know 
that  his  wife  was  to  a  marked  extent  his  friend  and  coun- 
selor,  and   that  he   took    no   important   step,   political   or 
otherwise,  without  her  full   understanding  and   approval. 
In  fact,  his  love   for  home  was  so  great,  that  a  sigh  of 
regret  would  escape   him  on   leaving  for  a  brief  absence, 
and  he  seemed  to  have  a  premonition  that  the  end  would, 
overtake  him  when  away  from  the  loved  ones.      Had  he 
seen   the    finger  of   divine   providence    pointing    out   his 
death,  he  could  scarcely  have   been    more   tender   in  his 
farewell  than  he  was  the  afternoon  that  he  stepped  forth  on 
his  last  journev,  which  proved  to   be  a  passage  to  the 
tomb. 

Mr.  Hoyne   left   his  home  in   this  city  Thursda}^  July 
26,   1883,  full  of  health   and   vigor.      He  set   out   on   his 


J- 


*:- 


:•>•:,  -  .      ■  ■     '        28        _.     v;    ;.  ;,:/ 

annual  summer  vacation,  and  was  on  his  way  to  C'gdens- 
hurgh,  intending  tiience  to  make  the  tour  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  the  White  Mountains,  and  finally  an  extended 
visit  to  Saratoga.  The  evening  of  Friday,  the  train  on 
which  he  was  traveling  dashed  into  a  freight  car  at  Carl- 
ton station,  on  the'  Rome,  Watertown  and  Ogdensburgh 
railroad,  and  in  a  moment  the  engines  and  coaches  were 
lying  in  a  shapeless  mass.  The  dead  body  of  Mr.  Hoyne 
was  rescued  from  the  debris  a  few  hours  later,  and  arrived 
In  Chicago  the  following  Monday.  It  was  received  at  the 
depot  bv  a  committee  of  the  Iroquois  Club,  and  on  the 
following  day  taken  from  his  home,  at  No.  267  Michigan 
avenue,  to  St.  Mary's  Church. 

Seldom  has  Chicago  seen  an  assemblage  of  men  more 
representative  of  the  highest  forms  of  citizenship  than  the 
congregation  which  gathered  that  morning  in  St.  Mary's 
Church.  Seldom  has  the  whole  community  thus  joined 
in  manifestations  of  respect  for  the  memory  and  sorrow 
for  the  loss  of  one  of  its  citizens.  All  the  public  offices 
were  closed,  as  well  as  many  private  places  of  business. 
All  the  .streets  and  avenues  leading  to  the  church  were 
blocked  with  carriages,  and  the  sacred  edifice  was  filled 
to  overflowing  with  friends  and  admirers  of  the  deceased. 
A  list  of  those*present  would  include  many  hundreds  of 
those  most  prominent  in  the  law,  politics  and  commerce 
of  Chicago.  The  officials  of  Cook  county  attended  in  a 
body;  the  common  council  was  represented  by  a  majority 
of  its  members;  all  the  directors  of  the  library  board  were 
present — there  was  no  public  body  that  did  not  add  sorhe 
tribute  to  the  significance  of  the  occasion.  There  were 
also  to  be  seen  the  leading  lights  of  the  Chicago  bar,  mourn- 
ing the  death  of  an  honored  colleague,  and  the  distin- 
guished judges  of  the  Chicago  bench  paying  the  last  mark 


.^^- 


.;..  .iv^-::;^- 


.;,/■  .,■:■  '■■■■  '■':  i:  .-v'-as^i.;^ .,;.  _^^■  ;;.•       ;    _  .   .  >S;--^;X;:v 

of  respect  to  their  associate  and  friend.  The  professors  ot 
Hahnemann  College  and  of  tlie  Chicago  University,  the 
directors  of  the  Chicago  Astronomical  Society — in  fine,' 
leading  men  from  all  the' institutions  of  learning  with 
which  the  deceased  was  identified  in  his  life — gave  the 
silent  testimony  of  their  presence  in  appreciation  of  a 
useful  life.  And  the  social  organizations  of  the  city,  the 
Calumet,  Iroquois,  Irish-American,  and  other  clubs,  sent 
large  delegations  in  remembrance  of  the  genial  influence 
of  the  kindly  heart  that  slept  beneath  the  fragrant  weight 
of  flowers.  But  more  significant  than  all  the  other  fac.es 
present  were  those  that  seemed  like  written  scrolls,  so 
deeply  were  they  furrowed,  the  faces  of  Chicago's  early 
settlers,  with  whom  Thomas  Hoyne  had  stood  shoulder 
to  shoulder  in  those  endeavors  of  the  past  which  made 
possible  the  achievements  of  the  present.  The  crowning 
feature  of  the  solemn  scene  was  the  presence  of  that  bod\- 
of  venerable  men,  each  one  of  whom  showed  how  keenly 
he  felt  that  he  had  lost  a  comrade,  and  that  one  more 
name  had  been  stricken  from  the  roll  of  Chicago's 
pioneers. 

Father  Arthur  Lonergan  was  the  celebrant  of  the  im- 
pressive requiem  high  mass.  'Fathers  Cashman,  John 
Waldron  and  Patrick  Waldron  were  seated  within  the 
chancel,  and  Fathers  Ambrose,  Gaulet  and  Foster  took 
the  place  of  the  regular  choir  and  sang  the  Gregorian 
chants.  After  the  Celebration  of  the  mass,  Father  Lon- 
ergan stood  beside  the  coffin  and  delivered  a  short  eulogy 
on  the  deceased,  and  a  sermon  on  the  importance  of  being 
always  prepared  for  death. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  the  procession  left  the 
church  while  the  organist  pUiyed  a  funeral  march,  and  a 
very  huge  numbei  of  those  who  had  attended  tlie  serMce 


^ 


> 

is 


30 

look  carriages  for  Rosehill.     The  scene  at  the  cemetery 

was  very  impressive.     The  open   grave   was  so  thickly 

draped  with  evergreens  as  to  conceal  the  earth,  and  when 

the  coffin  was  lowered   to  its  last   resting  place,  and  dust 

committed    to   dust,    the    mound    was   covered    with    the 

wealth  of  floral  offerings.      Prayer   was  offered  by  Rev. 

Dr.  Burroughs,  and  the  cortege  turned   sorrowfully  from 

the  grave  of  Thomas  Hoyne  with  a  deep  sense  that 

r 

"  He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
Thev  woulii  not  look  upon  bis  like  again." 


d^ity  (Council. 


A  meeting  of  the  common  council  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
was  held  July  30,  1883,  when  the  following  communica- 
tion was  received  from  his  Honor  the  Maj'or:    ^        I    ' 

Gentlemen:  It  is  eminently  fit  and  projier  that  your  honor- 
able body  should  take  some  appropriate  action  upon  the  death  of 
Thomas  Hoyne.  Mr.  Hoyne  has  for  over  forty  years  been  iden- 
tified with  the  history  of  Chicago.  He  has  held  here  the  positions 
of  city  clerk,  judge,  United  States  district-attorney,  ynited  States 
marshal,  and,  for  a  short  time  in  1876,  that  of  mayor. 

Mr.  Hoyne  was  of  marked  characteristics,  energetic  and  posi- 
tive. He  was  an  honest  man,  whose  uprightness  of  character 
earned  for  him  the  respect  of  all. 

In  his  public  and  professional  life  he  was  noted  for  his  elo- 
([uence,  his  energy,  his  ability,  and  the  integrity  of  all  his  acts 
and   deeds.       He   took   great    interest    in    all    public    improve- 


•■  k, 


ments,  and  his  earnestness  and  positiveness  rendered  his  influence 
in  whatever  he  entered  upon  of  very  great  weight.  He  was  .1 
public-spirited  citizen  whose  energetic  character  has  lieen  of  the 
■-greatest  service  to  the  city  of  Chicago.  It  is  the  lot  of  all  men 
of  decided  force  of  character  to  make  enemies  of  some.  He  was 
not  an  exception  to  the  rule ;  yet  even  those  who,  differed  with 
him  in  opinion  alwa^'s  conceded  the  purity  of  purpose,,  antl 
honesty  of  aim  by  which  Mr.  Hoyne  was  ever  actuated.  In 
private  life  he  was  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  nToral  upright- 
ness ;  one  who  made  strong  friends  and  stood  by  them. 

The  tragic  suddenness  of  his  death  has  shocked  the  community. 
While  he  was  upwards  of  sixty  years  of  age,  his  vigorous  con- 
stitution and  his  healthful  habits  gave  promise  of  many-years  yet 
of  life,  and  the  terrible  tragedy  of  his  taking  off  seems  too  sud 
den  a  close  to  a  life  so  useful  to  the  community,  so  dear  to  his 
friends  and  family. 

As  a  man  so  closely  connected  with  our  public  interests,  s^j^ 
long  identified  with  the  city  and  its  affairs,  it  is  becoming  that 
you  should  pass  suitable  resolutions  of  tribute  and  respect  upon 
his  death. 

I  have  prepared  the  accompanying  resolutions,  which  I  here- 
with submit  for  your  approval  and  action.    ;.■•-.  ,        '■■,;■•'•■'■' 

Alderman  Sanders  moved  that  the  resolutions  be  adop- 
ted and  that  the  council  attend  the  funeral  in  a  body.      ";  ' 
The  motion  prevailed  by  unanimous  vote.  -■ 

The  following  are  the  resolutions  as  adopted: 

Whereas,  There  was  killed  in  the  late  railroad  disaster  in  New 
York  state,  a  citizen  of  Chicago  whose  close  connection  with  the 
interests  of  the  city  and  faithful  services  in  behalf  of  the  people, 
render  his  death  a  public  misfortune. 

Resolved,  That ^n  the  death  of  Thomas  Hoyne,  the  City  of 
Chicago  has  lost  one  of  its  most  patriotic,  public  spirited   and 
honorable  citizens;    a  man  whose  efforts  in  behalf  of  all  that 
he  believed  to  be  best  for  the  interests  of  his  community,  en-    ' 
titled  him  to  the  respect  and  admiration  of  .ill  good  citizens 


Resolved,  That  all  city  offices  be  closed  during  the  hours  of 
the  funeral,  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  Tliat  these  resolutions  be  duly  published  in  the  pro- 
<  eedings  of  this  body,  and  copies  hereof  be  furnished  the  press 
for  publication  and  sent  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


ttounty  Board. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  county  board  of  commissioners 
held  July  30,  1883,  the  following  resolutions  were  offered 
and  adopted:  i  1 

This  community  has  sustained  an  irreparable  loss  by  the 
sudden  death  of  our  most  eminent  fellow-citizen,  Hon.  Thomas 
Hoyne.  His  life  in  Chicago,  since  1837.  has  been  charac- 
terized by  a  public  zeal  which  has  contributed  largely  to  our 
educational,  scientific,  and  patriotic  reputation  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  He  has  been  the  eminent  friend,  counselor  and 
associate  of  three  generations  of  men,  among  whom  he  has  been 
conspicuous  for  his  fearless  and  incorruptible  integrity.  Age 
left  no  mark  to  distinguish  Mr.  Huyne  from  our  most  active  and 
enterprising  young  men,  and  his  name  and  works  will  forever 
adorn  the  history  of  Chicago,  where  his  face  was  so  familiar.  Be 
it  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  board  attend  in  a  body  the  funeral  ser- 
vices of  our  distinguished  dead,  and  that  the  chairman  appoint 
a  committee  to  make  suitable  arrangements  for  such  attendance. 
That  these  resolutions  be  entered  upon  and  printed  in  our 
records,  and  that  an  engrossed  co))y  thereof  be  furnished  the 
family  of  the  deceased. 


Bar  Association. 


A  large  meeting  of  the  Chicago  bar  was  held  in  Judge 
Drummond's  court  room  on  Tuesdaj-  of  this  week,  in 
relation  to  the  untimely  death  of  Hon.  Thomas  Hoj^ne, 
who  was,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  lawyei ,  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  bar  of  the  past  and  the  bar  of 
the' present. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Judge  Drummond, 
a  life-ldng  friend  of  the  lamented  deceased,  who  bi  iefl\ ,  but 
with  much  feeling,  stated  the  object  of  the  meetmg,  and 
concluded  by  saying  that  a  committee  had  been  appointed 
at  a  previous  meeting  to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  the  iirem- 
ory  of  Thomas  Hoyhe,  and  that  the  Hon.  J.  Young 
Scammon  had-beefr'requested  by  the  committee  to  pre- 
pare and  present  the  memorial.  '     ~ 

The  meeting  was  organized  by  electing  the  \enei  able 
ex-chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  court,  John  D  Caton,  *> 
chairman,  and  A.  M.  Pence,  as  secretary. 

Judge  Catox,  in  taking  the  chair,  said: 

Gentlemen:  The  occasion  which  has  brought  us 
together  to-day  is  one  of  solemn  import,  and  lemmds  u^ 
that  our  stay  here  is  short.  The  death  of  Mi  Ho\ne, 
which  came  upon  us  so  suddenly,  produced  a  shock 
throughout  the  whole  community;  and  those  who  ha\e 
known  him  longest  and  known  him  best,  and  theiefoie 
knew  best  how  to  appreciate  him,  felt  their  sensibilities 
awakened  to  a  degree  which  words  fail  to  express  Few 
living  have  known   Mr.  Hoyne  longer  than  I  did,  oi  have 

.  .■:■■■■«•■  /  ■■•■  -.  :■;■,■'■ 


3l( 


appreciated  his  virtues  and  his  excellencies  more  than  I 
have.  When  I  heard  of  his  untimely  death,  a  chord  was 
struck  of  deep  feeling  and  sensibility,  which  but  few  who 
have  not  attained  the  3'ears  that  I  have — but  few  who 
have  not  known  him  as  well  as  I  have -(and  few  have 
had  more  opportunities  of  appreciating  his  virtues  than  I 
have)  could  experience.  I  would  like  to  detain  you  in 
speaking  of  the  history  of  Thomas  Hoyne;  but  you  have 
known  him,  some  longer,  some  shorter,  so  well  that  to  do 
so  is  unnecessary.  I  am  sure  that  all  who  have  known 
him,  and  those  who  knew  him  best,  have  respected  his 
virtues,  his  excellencies  in  every  walk  of  life,  and  deeply 
feel  his  untimely  taking  off.  Pardon  me,  therefore,  that  I 
say  no  more. 

The  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon  then  read  the  following 
paper  prepared  in  memory  of  Mr.  Hoyne:  | 

The  members  of  the  legal  profession  in  a  free  republic 
always  occupy  a  prominent  and  influential  position  in 
public  consideration.  They  are  the  forensic  instructors  of 
the  people,  the  guardians  of  personal  rights,  and  the 
defenders  of  individual  liberty.  When  one  of  its  old  and 
distinguished  members  is  called  from  his  earthly  duties, 
a  chasm  in  society  marks  his  exit.  When  by  a  frightful 
casualty  such  a  one  is  suddenly  hurled  into  the  eternal 
world,  the  whole  community  is  shocked.  | 

The  sudden  catastrophe  in  which  the  life  of  Thomas 
Hoyne  was  sacrificed,  on  the  Rome,  Watertown  and 
Ogdensburg  railroad,  near  Carlj'on,  New  York,  on  the 
night  of  Jul}'  27,  1883,  has  awakened  in  the  hearts  of  his 
brethren  of  the  Illinois  bar  the  most  profound  emotions 
and  the  deepest  sympathies  for  his  b^eaved  widow  and 
family. 

The  departure  of  such  a  man  from  our  midst  demands  . 


that  we  should  place  on  record  an  appropriate  minute, 
while  the  numerous  testimonials  from  other  associations 
with  which  he  was  connected  admonish  us  to  confine  this 
minute  to  Mr.  Hoyne  as  a  member  of  our  profession. 

Thomas  Hoyne  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
February  ii,  iSr^.  He  remained  there  till  1837,  when, 
listening  to  the  prophetic-poetic  voice  of  Bishop  Berkley, 
he  followed  the  course  of  empire  to  the  then  extreme 
west,  and  landed  in  Chicago.  Meeting  here  an  early  and 
devoted  friend,  the  late  Judge  Manierre,  he  renewed  his. 
personal  acquaintance,  and  found  employment  from  him 
in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  Circuit  court  of  Cook 
count}',  where  the  latter  was  acting  as  deput3^  He  had 
commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  New  York,  but,  like 
so  many  other  successful  members  of  the  ba;r,  he  had  no 
means  beyond  his  own  personal  exertions  to  support  him 
while  seeking  his  legal  education.  He  had  known  the 
meaning  of  the  struggles  of  impoverished  orphanage 
from  an  early  age;  but  his  ambition,  will,  and  determina- 
tion would  brook  no  obstacles.  He  entered  the  office  of 
J.  Young  Scammon,  one  of  the  earliest  practitioners  at 
the  Chicago  bar,  read  his  profession  there,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  1839.  With  the  exception  of  about 
two  years  passed  in  Galena,  he  has  ever  since  resided  in 
Chicago.  He  soon  became  prominent,  was  invited  to 
become  a  law  partner  of  Mark  Skinner,  and  remained 
such  partner  till  the  election  of  the  latter  gentleman  to 
the  bench.  In  1847  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Pro-  ^ 
bate  Justice.  In  1853  he  received  the  appointment  of 
District  Attorney  of  the  United  Statfes  for  the  District  of 
Illinois,  and  in  1859,  of  United  States  Marshal.  The 
duties  of  these  offices  he  discharged  with  credit  to  him- 
self, and  acceptably  to  the  government,  ■-.'■i 


*•: 


3^ 


■  .  The  many  other  places  of  distinction  which  he  occupied 
are  elsewhere  commemorated.  It  is  of  him  as  a  lawj'er 
and  legal  associate  that  we  desire  to  speak — of  him  as  a 
brother  and  a  man  intimately  associated  with  us  in  our 
department  of  the  great  drama  of  hunjan  life. 

He  knew  and  appreciated  the  obligations  which  he 
assumed  in  entering  the  legal  profession.  A  man  of  the 
most  ardent  temperament  and  intense  earnestness,  and 
remarkable  fidelity  to  both  friends  and  duty,  his  oath  of 
office  was  no  mere  form  of  words.  Duty  to  his  client  was 
engraved  upon  his  heart.  Industry  and  diligence  were 
displajed  in  all  his  acts.  He  attained  reputation  and  posi- 
tion, which  brought  business  to  his  chambers,  and  emolu- 
ment to  his  coffers.  His  professional  life  has  been  long 
and  successful.  He  was  a  prudent  counselor,  an  earnest, 
enthusiastic  and  successful  advocate.  He  was  a  man  of 
acknowledged  ability.  If  his  ardor  and  zeal  sometimes 
e.xceeded  the  measure  of  his  cooler  judgment,  they  left  no 
sting  behind.  If  he  erred,  he  endeavored  to  redress  any 
injur\-  he  might,  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  have 
committed,  and  to  do  away  with  the  force  of  any  un- 
guarded expressions.  Men  of  his  temperament  can  not 
always  sail  in  smooth  waters,  but  they  arc  compensated 
by  being  relieved  froiTi  hypocrisy,  sham  or  pretense.  They 
show  what  they  are,  are  estimated  for  their  worth,  and 
relied  upon  at  all  times  as  just,  fearless  and  honest  men. 

In  iiis  professional  intercourse  he  was  kind  and  accom- 
modating, though  always  exacting  as  to  what  in  his  esti- 
mation was  just  and  right.  Of  integrity  unquestioned, 
he  had  deep  convictions  as  to  the  duty  every  man  owes  to 
his  profession,  and  ever}-  successful  man  to  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  lives.  E  ■pliirihiis  tinum  was  not  more 
permanently  engraved  upon  our  national  escutcheon  than 


deeply  impressed  upon  his  soul.  In  his  estimation  he  was 
only  one  of  the  man}-.  The  Chicago  law  school  con^  ^ 
nected  with  the  universities,  he  was  greatly  influential  in 
establishing.  He  endowed  its  first  professorship,  wiiith. 
in  recognition  of  his  services  and  liberality  bears  the  name 
of  "The  Hoyne  Professorship  of  International  and  Con- 
stitutional Law."  He  was  greatly  desirous  of  promoting 
thorough  education  in  a  profession  to  which  was  commit- 
ted the  highest  truths  in  relation  to  the  lives,  liberties  and 
property  of   the  citizen.  .  .       ;    ': 

He  has  set  an  example  of  industry'  and  independence  to 
the  voung,  and  of  generous  liberality  and  dut\  to  his 
prosperous  associates.  He  ha-ted  idleness  and  dependence. 
In  his  needy  di\ys  he  did  not  hesitate  to  accepi  any  le- 
spectable  available  employment,  until  he  could  obtain  that 
more  suited  to  his  ability  and  taste.  He  made  his  fortune 
not  by  speculation,  but  by  diligent  labor  and  economy,  and 
careful  and  judicious  investment. 

After  being  associated  as  a  partner  with  several  promi- 
nent members  of  the  bar,  Mr.  Hoyne  formed  with  two  of 
his  students,  the  firm  of  Hoyne,  Horton  &  Hoyne,  com-  , 
posed  of  himself,  Oliver  H.  Morton,  and  his  son,  Thomas 
M.,  whose  established  business  character  and  reputation 
is  one  of  the  heir-looms  he  leaves  behind  him. 

His  life  is  another  illustration  of  the  oft-repeated  asser- 
tion that  no  profession  is  more  worthy  than  the  legal,  and 
no  life  more  honorable  or  successful  than  that  of  dn 
upright,  able,  conscientious,  faithful  and  public  spirited 
lawyer. 

Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  in  rising  and  moving  the 
adoption  of  the  minute,  reported  by  Mr.  Scammon,  said" 

Ossian,  a  poet  of  other  daj's,  whose   sentiment   often    , 
touched  the  soul  of  our  deceased  comrade,  speaking  of 


^1 


38 


one  of  lliosc  old  htToes,  whom  he  immortalized,  said: 
"No  bard  shall  be  waruini^  at  ih}-  tomb  svhen  ihou  art 
lowlv  laid,"  and  again,  •■  Raise  mv  tomb — grev  stones 
and  a  mound  of  earth  shall  send  mv  name  to  other  times." 

Thus  the  ancient  hard  j^ave  expression  to  the  almost 
universal  feeling  that  when  we  are  laid  away  in  the  grave, 
some  kind  words  shall  be  spoken  over  our  remains.  And 
the  desire  to  place  upon  the  green  sod  which  covers  the 
remains  of  our  friends  some  tribute  of  alfection,  is  equallv 
luiiversal. 

Wlien  I  last  met  Mr.  Iloyne,  on  an  occasion  like  this, 
ills  stalwait  frame  and  physical  vigor  suggested  the 
thought.  "  lie  will  survive  most  of  his  old  associates  of 
the  bar,  and  his  kindh'  voice  will  speak  friendlv  words 
at  our  departure."  Tiie  order  has  been  reversed;  the  ■ 
younger  and  more  vigorous  hiis  been  taken,  while  we  sur- 
vive. 

More  perhaps  than  any  other,  he  united  the  past  and 
the  present.  Contemporarv  with  the  members  of  the  old 
bar  of  Chicago,  he  was  an  associate  with  the  present 
members  in  active  practice. 

It  is  not  mv  purpose  to  speak  of  him  to-dav  at  any 
length.  Arrangements  lia\e  been  made,  which  will  re- 
sult, I  hope,  in  a  full  biographical  memoir  of  him  before 
the  Chicago  Historical  Societv,  of  which  he  had  long 
been  a  member,  and  f)f  which,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
he  was  vice-president.  I  will  speak  brietlv  of  him  to-day 
as  a  lawyer  and  a  citizen.  He  has  long  occupieil  a  promi- 
nent position  at  this  bar.  For  nearly  fortv  vears  his 
manly  form  and  eloquent  voice  has  been  familiar  in  all  our 
courts.  During  all  this  long  period  his  professional  char- 
acter was  without  a  blemish.  Ardent,  impetuous  and 
zealous,  he   made   the  cause  of  his  client  his  own   to  an 


extent  rarely  equaled,  but  his  eager  desire  for  success  never 
tempted  him  to  seek  it  by  improper  means.  His  sense  of 
professional -honor  was  nice,  clear  and  decided.  .Ml  who 
met  him  in  forensic  battle,  or  who  were  associated  with 
him,  knew  that  the  battle  would  be  fought  with  fair 
weapons,  with  clean  hands.  There  would  be  no  foul 
blows  ijiven,  no  tricks,  nothing  underhanded.  Su  I  think 
it  may  be  truly  said  that  no  corrupt  means  ever  dimmed 
the  glor}'  of  his  professional  victories.  He  was  a  good 
lawyer,  industrious  and  careful,  and  he  thoroughly  studied 
and  prepared  his  cases.  He  was  a  vehement,  an  impas- 
sioned and  sometimes  an  eloquent  advocate.  His  temper 
was  quick,  impulsive  and  at  times  irritable,  but  he  was 
magnanimous,  generous  and  forgiving,  and  where  he  erred 
most  ready  to  acknowledge  and  repair  his  error.  ,"•''..■ 
His  victories  were  won  with  the  downright  blows  of 
the  battle-ax  of  Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart,  rather  than 
the  scimiter  of  Saladin.  I  recall  as  among  the  most  not- 
able  cases  in  which  I  was  ever  associated  with  him,  the 
defense  of  voung  Busch,'a  boy  scarcely  eighteen  years 
old,  indicted  for  murder.  He  had  shot  and  ihstantlv 
killed  a  carpenter  on  State  street.  Mr.  Hoyne  was  my 
associate  in  the  defense,  and  a  most  careful  and  efficient 
one  he  was.  The  case,  as  nearly  as  I  can  now  recall  it, 
after  a  lapse  of  over  twenty  years,  was  this:  The  father 
of  young  Busch  was  living  in  a  wooden  house  on  State 
street.  The  owner  of  the  adjoining  lot  claimed  that  the 
buildinij  of  Busch  encroached  a  few  inches  over  the  line. 
There  was  a  conflict  in  the  surveys.  The  owner  of  the 
lot  adjoining  that  of  Busch  began  the  erection  of  a  brick 
building  and  found  he  could  not  build  up  to  his  line,  as  he 
claimed  it,  without  cutting  a  few  inches  off  the  house  and 
home  of  ]3usch.     Without  waiting  to  bring  an  ejectment, 


4°  ■  '   ■ 

the  builder  and  his  woricmen  undertook  to  cut  down 
Busch's  house.  Young  Buscii  was  instructed  to  protect 
his  father's  iiouse  and  home.  As  the  carpenter,  standing 
on  a  ladder,  was  cutting  down  a  part  of  Busch's  house, 
the  boy  ascended  the  ladder,  and  with  a  pistol  shot  and 
killed  the  carpenter.  Our  defense  was  that  it  was  justi- 
fiable homicide,  in  nrotecting  his  father  and  house — his 
castle.  Judge  John  M.  Wilson  presided,  and  qualified  our 
law,  so  that  the  result  was  likely  to  be  a  verdict  of  man- 
slaughter. But  in  the  examination  of  the  eye-witnesses 
there  arose  a  conflict  of  evidence  as  to  whether,  at  the 
moment  the  pistol  w'as  tired,  the  carpenter  was  not  in  the 
very  act  of  striking  with  his  broad-ax  at  the  head  of 
Busch,  a  blow  which  would  have  caused  instant  death. 
And  if  so,  whether  voun"!  Busch  did  not  save  his  own  life 
by  taking  that  of  the  carpenter.  On  careful  examination 
it  was  fotmd  that  the  carpenter  dropped  his  ax  the 
moment  the  pistol  was  fired,  and  that  the  blade  had  struck 
and  penetrated  the  platform  on  which  the  ladder  was 
raised,  and  a  diagram  showing  the  position  of  the  parties, 
and  the  cut  in  the  platform  demonstrated  that  the  ax  was 
in  actual  motion  toward  the  head  of  Busch  when  the  lad 
fired;  and  that  it  did  not  fall  in  a  straight  line  toward  the 
earth,  but  described  an  arc  in  the  direction  of  Busch, 
and  the  boy  was  acquitted  on  the  ground  of  self-defense. 
1  recall  the  incident  as  illustratin<r  the  zeal,  intelli- 
gence,  and  ability  with  which  Mr.  Iloyne  aided  in  the 
defense.  |  -        I  . 

As  a  citizen  Mr.  Ho3'ne  was  a  model.  He  never 
shirked  his  duty,  hut  was  ready  and  willing  to  make 
sacrifices,  and  to  work  to  promote  whatever  was  good 
and  useful,  and  to  antagonize  and  resist  wrong.  He  was 
full  of  courage  and  zeal,  and  ready  to  make  vigorous  war 


upon  corruption  and  fraud.  No  corporation  was  ricli 
enough  to  buy  or  silence  him.  No  combination  of  politi- 
cal demagogues  could  seduce  him  with  oflice,  or  frighten 
him  from  e.xposing  and  denouncing  wrong.  He  was 
never  mi.xed  up  in  any  of  the  jobs  by  whicli  the  history 
of  our  pt}'  has  been  disgraced,  and  which  have  besmirched 
so  many  otherwise  fair  reputations.  Against  all  such, 
and  all  schemes  of  plunder,  he  was  ever  recognized  as  a 
bold,  open  and  unflinching  enemy.  He  was  a  Tribune  of 
the  people,  staunch,  faithful  and  ever  reliable,  so  that  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  tliat  the  plunderers  of  the  public,  the  ' 
rings  and  cliques  eager  to  steal,  to  grQW  rich  out  of  the 
corrupt  jobs  which  abound  in  our  great  cities,  all  felt 
relieved  at  his  death.  They  realized  that  a  bold,  zealous 
and  incorruptible  watch-dog  of  the  public  would  no  longer  ~ 
expose  and  defeat  their  sciiemes  of  plunder  and  spoliation. 
The  "  Tweeds  "  of  our  city  felt  that  they  could  pursue 
their  schemes  with  less  damage.  '  They  felt  more  safe 
when  Iloyne  was  dead.  They  realized  that  there  will 
now  be  more  safet}'  in  offering  or  accepting  a  bribe.  The 
security  of  public  and  private  property  is  lessened  by  his 
death.  This  is  the  highest  praise  that  can  be  bestowed 
on  a  citizen,  but  Hoyne  has  earned  it.  .^ 

He  was  also  liberal  with  his  means,  apd  ever  ready  to 
open  his  purse  for  all  wortlW  objects.  The  Chicago 
University,  the  Astronomical  Observator}-,  the  Public 
Librar}'  and  the  Historical  Society,'  were  each  the  recipi- 
ents of  liberal  contributions  of  (money,  as  well  as  of  his 
care  and  labor  in  administration. 

If  we  lift  the  veil  of  his  private  life,  we  find  everything 
to  respect,  and  admire,  and  love,  and  nothing  to  condemn, 
and  so  we  can  say,  our  brother  was  an  upright,  able  and  . 
most  honorable  lawyer,  a  model  citizen,  a  pure  Christian, 


42 


and  in  eveiy  rehuion  an  lionest  and  noble  man.  As  such, 
let  us  cherish  and  honor  his  memory.  i 

Hon.  J.  R.  Ddoi.iTTLE,  in  secondinj^  Mr.  Arnold's  mo- 
tion, said:  Words  fail  to  tell  how  deep  and  sharp  the  pang 
which  the  death  of  Thomas  Ho\'ne  brought  to  the  heart 
(jf  this  cit\- — not  onlv  to  tlie  bar,  of  which  he  had  long 
been  one  of  the  best  and  noblest,  but  to  all  classes  of  its 
citizens;  all,  all  knew  him;  and  many  thousands  had 
known  him  long  and  well.  His  friends  nearly  idolized 
him,  the  masses  loved  him,  and  his  foes  respected  and 
honored  him,  not  only  for  the  strength  of  his  mind  and  the 
force  of  his  will,  for  his  noble  and  commanding  presence 
and  mysterious  personal  magnetism,  but  for  that  frank, 
open,  manly  courage,  which  always  sa\s  what  it  means 
and  means  what  it  says;  and,  above  all,  for  that  stalwart 
vigor,  that  hatred  of  wrong  and  trick  and  sham,  that  in- 
tense love  of  right,  that  fearless  enthusiasm  for  justice, 
which,  in  him,  seemed  to  lean  upon  and  to  take  hold  of 
the  Almighty  for  its  strength — that  supreme  quality  of 
the  .-ioul  whicii  inspires  others  and  makes  one  a  born 
leader  and  prince  among  men. 

I  repeat,  not  the  bar  alone,  but  this  whole  city  felt  that 
death-stroke.  I  doubt  ifHhe  death  of  any  other  of  the 
600,000  here  could  have  moved  it  more  deeply,  or  caused 


more  universal  grief. 


As  has  been  truly  said,  he  was  eminent  in  his  profes- 
■  sion,  a  wise  counselor,  an  eloquent  advocate,  and  a  suc- 
cessful man  of  aflairs.  He  stood  in  the  front  rank,  and 
.  yet,  jierhaps,  he  was  more  eminent  still  as  a  citizen, 
among  the  foremost  of  those  whose  character  and  achieve- 
ments have  been  identified  with  the  history  and  growth 
of  this  great  city. 

Horn  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  toil   and   to  poverty, 


■  -^ 


at  tlie  age  of  twelve  lie  lost  his  father,  and,  a  year  later, 
his  mother.  At  thirteen,  an  orphan,  the  eldest  of  seven, 
he  was  bound  out  as  an  apjirentice,  and  worked  (ivi- 
vears,  until  he  was  eighteen  vears  of  age.  Jjut,  in  the 
midst  of  toil,  he  showed  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  ;tnd  more 
than  that,  the  self-denial  and  industry  to  educate  himself. 
He  attended  night  schools  and  literary  societies,  llv  then' 
showed  the  natural  gifts  of  logic  and  eloquence,  which,  it 
trained,  would  fit  him  for  the  master  profession,  to  which 
he  soon  turned  all  his  thoughts.  At  the  age  of  nineteen 
he  began  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  otlice  of  Judge 
Brinkerhoff,  in  the  chy  of  New  York.  The  year  after, 
at  the  age  tif  .twenty,  lie  cruue  here,  when  Chicago  was  a 
mere  village,  at  a  time  wiien  it  was  crushed  under  the 
panic  of  j8:57.  Biit  work  was  no  stranger  to  liim,  ami 
hard  times  did  not  appall  him.  To  support  himself,  lu- 
worked  in  the  clerk's  office  at  ifio  a  week.  In  1838  he 
taught  a  public  school-  -one  of  the  first  organized  here— ^ 
and  resumed  his  legal  studies  in  the  office  of  Hon.  J.  Y. 
Scammon.  At  the  age  of  twent^'-two  he  was  adfiiitted  to 
the  bar  of  Illinois,  in  the  autumn  of  1839.,  In  September, 
1840.  he  was  married  to  Leonora  Maria  Temple,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Tt;mple,  one  of  the  earliest  and  foremost 
of  tiie  settlers  of  Chicago. 

With  the  exception  of  a  brief  residence  at  Galena, 
Chicago  has  alwa^'s  been  his  home.  And  in  all  things  he 
has  been  identified  with  its  progress.  '  He  grew  ,with  its 
growth,  and  strengthened  with  its  strength.  I  can  add 
nothing  to  what  has  been  said  of  his  public  spirit  and 
works  of  charity;  of  what  he  has  done  in  aid  of  .its  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  the  University,  the  Dearborn  Observ- 
atory, the  founding  of  the  College  of  Law,  and  endowment 
of  a  professorship-  in  all  these  things   he   was   as   gener- 


44 


ous,  catholic  and  liberal  as  he  was  known  to  be  in  relig- 
ious opinions — cherishing  his  own,  yet  respecting  the 
opinions  of  others.  I 

Like  the  city  of  his  choice,  full  of  ambition,  energy,  in- 
dustry, courage  and  enthusiasm,  his  bj'oad,  generous 
nature  saw  in  every  man  a  brother  man,  and  recognized 
liis  equal  right  to  live,  and  to  toil,  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits 
of  his  labor.  In  no  inan  that  breathes  did  the  warm  pulse 
of  human  brotherhood  beat  truer  or  stronger  than  in  him. 
He  sometimes  was  impulsive,  blunt,  violent,  and  almost 
offensive,  and  spoke  in  no  measured  words,  but  he  was 
always  true  true  to  his  friends  and  true  to  his  enemies. 
Endowed  with  a  wonderful  memorv  of  men,  for  manj' 
years  he  personally  knew  every  citizen  of  Chicago.  And 
after  it  had  grown  too  large  for  him  to  know  every  citizen, 
verj'  few  could  be  found  here  who  were  not  familiar  with 
his  tiame  and  character,  and  could  not  recognize  him  as 
he  so  lately  walked  these  streets  in  full  vigor — every  inch 
a  man. 

The  whole  cit}-  mourns  the  death  of  Thomas  Hoyne. 
But  beyond  the  city,  the  State  of  Illinois  and  the  Nation 
mourn  the  loss  of  an  able  lawyer,  an  honest  man,  an  ar- 
dent patriot,  an  eminent  citizen. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  for  me  to  say  a  few  words  of 
him  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
■  His  political  convictions,  his  strong  sense  of  justice,  his 
love  of  the  equal  rights  of  men,  reared  as  he  was  in  the 
school  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  made  him  an  earnest 
democratic  republican.  He  maintained  the  equal  rights 
of  the  states  in  the  Union,  under  the  Constitution,  to  reg- 
ulate their  own  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way, 
not  onlv  the  relations  of  parent  and  child,  husband  and 
wife,  master  and  apprentice,  but   the   relations  of  master 


and  slave.  At  the  same  time,  b}'  every  conviction  of  his 
reason  and  every  instinct  of  his  nature,  he  was  utterly 
opposed  to  human  slavery. 

Therefore,  after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  which 
brought  to  the  United  States  large  free  territories,  we 
find  him  utterly  and  inflexibly  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  free  territory.  That  idea  severed  him  from 
the  democratic  party,  then  under  the  lead  of  General  Cass, 
in  184S,  who,  in  the  Nicholson  letter,  favored  the  diffusion 
of  slavery  as  a  mode  of  extinguishing  it;  just  as  if  the 
diffusion  of  polj-gamy  from  Utah  into  the  territories  of 
Arizona,  Idaho,  Montana  and  Wyoming  would  be  thr 
best  means  of  overthrowing  it. 

With  all  the  earnestness  and  force  of  his  character  he 
supported  the  free  soil  party  of  1848,  and  was  named  a 
presidential  elector  for  Van  Buren  and  Adams.  The  dif- 
fusion theory  of  General  Cass  was  defeated  with  his  own 
defeat.  California  was  admitted  as  a  free  state  in  1851, 
giving  to  the  free  states  a  majority  in  the  Senate.  '  i  . 

In  1852,  as  both  of  the  great  parties  had  come  to  a 
finality,  as  they  supposed,  upon  the  slavery  question,  and 
no  further  question  as  to  its  extension  was  involved,  he 
gave  his  support  to  General  Pierce,  and  acted  with  the 
democratic  party  until  1861,  when  the  leaders  at  the  south 
attempted  secession,  and  to  overthrow  the  Union  under 
the  Constitution.  Then,  as  in  Senator  Douglas,  the  great 
democratic  leader  of  Illinois,  "  his  patriotism  rose  to  a 
white  heat."  As  a  member  of  the  Union  Defense  Com- 
mittee, he  wrote  tiiat  appeal  to  the  people  of  Illinois  vviiich 
did  so  much  to  fill  its  regiments  with  democrats  as  well  as 
republicans.  As  one  of  the  committee,  he  visited  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  to  urge  the  campaign  down  the  Mississippi 
river  in  1862.     And  until  the  civil  war  was  ended  and 


46 

every  soldier  in  arms  against  the  government  had  surren- 
dered, he  gave  to  the  administration  his  constant  and  un- 
flinching support. 

When  the  war  was  over,  he  responded  to  the  call  for 
the  Union  Convention,  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1866.  With 
William  B.  Ogden,  another  of  Chicago's  greatest  citizens, 
he  attended  it  as  one  of  the  delegates  at  large  from  Illi- 
nois. It  was  an  extraordinary  convention.  I  have  seen 
several  great  conventions,  but  never  one  equal  to  that.  As 
I  have  said,  Hoyne  and  Ogden  were  delegates  at  large 
from  this  state.  From  Pennsylvania,  every  man  who  had 
been  a  governor  was  there,  except  one,  and  he  was  un- 
able to  go  by  reason  of  his  great  age ;  every  man  that  had 
been  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  court  was  there;  and  men 
equally  distinguished  from  many  other  states.  1 

It  was  the  first  meeting  of  the  north  and  the  south  after 
the  war  was  over.  It  was  the  first  reunion — the  first 
coming  together  to  strike  hands  across  the  bloody  chasm 
of  a  civil  war,  which  cost  the  lives  of  near  500,000  of  the 
bravest  and  the  best,  and  a  waste  and  destruction  of  more 
than  $5,000,000,000  of  values. 

Mr.  Iio3ne  with  Mr.  Ogden  was  there,  and  witnessed 
that  famous  meeting  of  the  delegations  of  Massachusetts 
and  South  Carolina — the  former  headed  by  General  Couch 
of  the  Union  army,  the  other  by  General  Orr,  of  the  Con- 
federate army — both  stalwart  and  Splendid-looking  men. 
He  saw  those  delegations  as  they  marched  arm  in  arm 
through  the  aisles  of  that  immense  wigwam,  where  over 
15,000  were  assembled.  He  heard  those  cheers — cheers 
such  as  he  never  heard  before  or  since — cheers  that  went 
up  to  heaven,  in  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  because  the 
war  was  over,  because  no  more  blood  was  to  flow,  be- 
cause no  more  sons  and  brothers  were  to  go  down   to 


47 


battle  and  to  death,  because  peace,  blessed  peace,  had 
come,  and  come  to  stay,  because  hereafter  there  would  be 
but  one  Union,  one  Constitution,  one  Country,  and  that 
country  forever  free  from  human  slavery. 

No  act  of  his  life-  gave  to  him  more  satisfaction  than  to 
have  been  a  delegate  to  that  convention  in  1866,  and  to 
the  principles  and  declarations,  unanimously  adopted  by 
that  convention,  he  always  rem'ained  true  and  steadfast. 

While  Mr.  Hoyne  had  all  the  elements  of  popularity, 
he  seldom  allowed  his  name  to  be  presented  for  the 
people's  suffrages. 

When  once  nominated  for  Congress,  and  at  a  time  when 
he  was  reasonably  certain  of  election,  he  withdrew  from 
the  canvass,  in  favor  of  a  personal  friend.  j".'  :  - 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  in  a  great  emergency,  rising' 
above  party,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  this  city  by  33,000 
majority. 

Generally  acting  with  the  democratic  party,  because  he 
believed  it  to  be  generally  right,  there  were  times  when 
his  conscience  would  not  allow  him  to  be  bound  by  the 
acts  of  its  caucuses  and  conventions,  when  they  were 
clearly  wrong. 

Weak  men  go  with  their  party,  right  or  wrong.  They 
fear  the  charge  of  inconsistency,  or  of  treason  to  the 
party.  They  tremble  at  the  lash  of  the  party  whip.  But 
not  so  with  Mr.  Hoyne.  In  mere  matters  of  form  or 
expediency  he  was  ready  to  yield.  But  in  a  matter  of 
clear  principle,  it  was  with  him  a  matter  of  conscience  in 
which  he  knew  no  master,  and  would  submit  to  no  dic- 
tator. He  acted  with  his  party  when  he  believed  it  to 
be  right,  against  it  when  he  believed  it  to  be  wrong.  In- 
stead of  being  weak,  changing  or  inconsistent  in  doing  so,  . 
he  was  strong,  for  he  was  guided  by  the  light  of  truth ; 


48 


and  his  course  was  as  straight  and  direct  to  his  object  as 
'  a  ray  of  sunlight  which  shines  across  the  clouds  of  a 
changing  sky. 

The  motion  to  adopt  the  minute  was  unanimously  car- 
ried, and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Arnold,  it  was  voted  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  meeting  be  published,  and  that  individ- 
ual members  of  the  bar  be  appointed  to  move  the  various 
courts  of  this  cit}',  and  the  Supreme  court  that  they 
spread  upon  their  records  a  copy  of  the  minute;  and  also 
that  a  cop3'  of  the  same  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased.  |  ■  | 

Judge  Caton  appointed  as  such  committee  the  following 
named  gentlemen: 

The  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  to  the  Supreme  court;  the 
Hon.  Judge  Skinner,  to  the  United  States  courts;  the 
Hon.  O.  H.  Horton,  to  the  Appellate  court;  Hon.  B.  F. 
Ayer,  to  the  Superior  court;  the  Hon.  E.  B.  McCagg,  to 
the  Circuit  court,  and  the  Hon.  M.  R.  M.  Wallace,  to  the 
Probate  court. 

In  putting  a  motion  to  adjourn,  the  chairman,  Judge 
Caton,  said : 

The  time  cannot  be  far  distant  when,  for  some  of  us,  the 
bar  will  be  called  together  to  say  words  good  or  bad  in 
regard  to  us.  There  are  but  few  left^  of  what  may  be 
called  the  old  Chicago  bar.  Most  of  our  associates  have 
gone  before  us.  A  few  of  us  are  left  as  monuments,  or  as 
witnesses  of  that  old  Chicago  bar.  We  look  about  us 
and  see  a  new  generation  of  lawyers,  who  have  come  up 
and  taken  upon  themselves  the  duties  of  the  profession; 
and  I  can  say  for  myself,  and  I  think  I  can  say  for  m}-  old 
associates,  that  it  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  we  see 
liovv  ably  and  how  honorably  our  successors  are  discharg- 
ing  the   duties  which   once   rested    upon   us.     Our  friend 


49 

was  of  that  old  number,  and,  probably,  the  most  vi<:foious, 
the  most  promising  for  long  life  of  all  those  who  sui\i\ed 
up  to  his  time,  of  all  his  contemporaries.  Yet,  m  the 
administration  of  a  wise  Providence,  inscrutable,  it  is  tiue, 
he  has  been  called  away,  and  we  are  left.  His  voice  shall 
be  no  longer  heard  among  us,  but  his  name  will  sui\ive 
in  our  memories  while  memorylasts. 
The  meeting  then  adjourned. 


Appellate  iDourt. 


In  the  Appellate  court  of  Illinois,  First  district,  Mi    O 
H.  HoRTON,  the  partner  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  in  presenting  the 
memorial   of    the    Bar    Association,   made    the   .following 
address: 

May  it  please  the  Court:  I  hold  in  mj'  hand  a 
copy  of  a  memorial  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  bar  of 
this  city  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Thomas  Hoyne.  By 
that  meeting,  and  in  my  absence  from  the  city,  I  was 
requested  to  present  the  same  to  this  court,  and  ask  that 
it  be  spread  upon  the  records. 

It  may  be  proper  for  me  to  add  a  few  words.  Nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  since  I  entered  the  office  of  Mr. 
Hoyne,  and  for  twenty  years  immediately  preceding  his 
death,  I  was  associated  with  him  as  a  partner.  Few, 
if  any,  outside  of  the  members  of  his  own  immediate 
famil}-,  have  had  equal  opportunities  to  know  his  real 
character  and  the  motives  and  impulses  which  controlled 


him.  TliL'  numerous  official  positions  held  by  him,  as 
well  as  his  connection  with  the  various  worthy  and  in- 
fluential local  organizations,  and  the  more  public  acts  of 
his  life,  have  been  referred  to  by  others  since  his  decease. 
I  ma\',  therefore,  be  permitted  to  speak  more  especially 
of  his  character  and  life  as  known  to  tliose  in  the  more 
intimate  relations  with  him. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  Mr.  Hoyne's  life  was  devoted  to 
the  practice  of  his  loved  profession.  To  him  there  was 
no  calling  more  honorable.  He  was  not  a  lawyer  merely 
for  gain — that  was  secondary.  He  regarded  his  profes- 
sion as  the  best  possible  avenue  of  obtaining  a  broad, 
liberal  and  practical  knowledge  of  men  and  things  as  they 
are,  rather  than  as  they  may  be  made  to  appear  bv 
theorists.'  He  was  proud  of  the  profession,  and  at  all 
times,  and  on  all  occasions  a  defender  of  it  from  what- 
ever source  it  might  be  assailed  by  sneer  or  ridicule,  in- 
sinuation or  denunciation.  To  discredit  or  deride  it  was 
to  him  a  personal  insult.  ^  \ 

And  yet  no  lawyer  ever  regarded  the  unworthy  mem- 
bers of  the  profession  with  more  genuine  contempt  than 
■  did  he.  The  professional  pretender  had  no  more  uncom- 
promising adversary'.  To  the  one,  however,  v\  ho  was 
honestly  mistaken,  or  who  failed  after  an  industrious  and 
faithful  effort,  none  were  more  charitable  or  ready  to  ex- 
tend a  helping  hand.  He  was  the  especial  friend  of  the 
worthy  and  struggling  young  lawyer — for  him  he  always 
had  a  word  of  encouragement  and  good  cheer.  | 

In  the  practice  of  his  profession  Mr.  Ho^-ne  first  at- 
tempted to  ascertain  the  equity  and  justice  of  the  question 
involved.  The  final  settlement  of  this  question,  in  his 
mind,  determined  his  course,  and  it  required  very^strong 
and    convincing    proofs   to   change   his   convictions.      His 


5' 


fidelity  to  his  client,  and  what  he  believed  to  he  his  client's 
interest,  could  never  be  pioperlv  questioned.  Indeed,  so 
strong  did  this  consideration  become,  and  so  completely 
did  it  take  possession  of  him,  that  an}-  opposition  or  an\' 
intimation  that  it  was  wrong  was  received  almost  as  per- 
sonal. 

In  the  practice  of  his  profession  he  knew  no  artifice. 
Here,  as  in  all  other  matters,  he  drove  directly  and  openly 
at  the  substance.  In  a  general  sense  all  pleadings  were 
to  him  alike  and  of  little  consequence.  -J  ■-.. 

As  an  advocate  he  was  especially  and  deservedly  known 
and  recognized  as  a  leader.  He  possessed  a  command- 
ing presence  and  a  good  gift  of  language.  Being  not 
onl}'  an  observer  of  the  doings  of  the  day,  but  an  exten- 
sive and  retentive  general  reader,  he  drew  for  his  illus- 
trations with  equal  ease  and  readiness  from  iiistor\',  biog- 
raphy, mythology  and  fiction,  or  from  the  incidents  of 
every  day  life,  and  especially  those  of  early  local  historj-. 
These  qualities  used  in  presenting  the  facts  in  a  case, 
which  was  done  with  an  earnestness  and  skill  rarely 
equaled  and  never  excelled,  and  reinforced  with  the  abid- 
ing and  unswerving  conviction  that  he  was  in  the  right, 
which  conviction  he  usually  imparted  to  those  whom  he 
addressed,  aided  largely  in  making  him  the  powerful  and 
convincing  advocate  that  he  was. 

In  all  the  affairs  of  life  with  which  he  was  connected, 
and  in  all  the  issues  which  he  considered,  whether  pro- 
fessional, political  or  otherwise,  he  had  the  courage  of  his 
convictions.  This  was  true  in  politics,  whether  local, 
state  or  national.  His  personal  regard  for  individuals,  oi 
candidates  for  office  was  never  allowed  to  swei\e  hun 
from  what  he  believed  to  be  right  and  for  the  best  Interest 
of  the  people.     Being  a  man  of  convictions,  and  bold  and 


^ 


52  '        ■.-,■ 

fearless  both  in  words  and  actions  in  sustaining  his  con- 
victions, and  being  at  all  times  ready  to  take  an  active 
part  in  denouncing  and  resisting  trickery  and  corruption, 
he  was  relied  upon  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  confidence 
in  him  was  the  most  implicit  in  those  who  knew  him  best. 
"  What  can  be  more  honorable  than  to  have  courage 
"  enough  to  execute  the  commands  of  reason  and  co'n- 
"  science? " 

Mr.  Hoyne  was  no  dissembler.  To  him  shams,  shoddy 
and  pretense  were  s\-nonymous  with  fraud,  dishonesty  and 
deception.  And  this  was  not  the  result  of  prejudice  or 
caprice,  but  was  the  natural  result  and  outgrowth  of  his 
convictions;  that  tiie  outward  life  should  be,  and  usu^ally 
is,  a  correct  index  of  the  inward  purpose.  The  purpose 
being  to  deceive,  to  appear  to  be  or  to  have  what  the 
facts  would  not  warrant,  was  not  honest,  and  therefore  to 
be  openly  and  unreservedly  condemned.  While  he  was 
bold,  fearless  and  relentless  in  his  denunciations,  j'et,  if  he 
fell  or  believed  that  in  tiie  heat  of  argument  he  had 
wounded  or  done  injustice  to  another,  especially  a  brother 
member  of  the  bar,  he  could  not  rest  contented  until  he 
had  sought  to  make  reparation.  There  was  but  one  way 
in  which  his  opposition  could  be  removed,  or  his  denunci- 
ation silenced,  and  that  was  by  convincing  him  that  his 
conclusions  were  wrong.  While  he  retained  the  convic- 
tion that  he  was  right,  opposition  but  nerved  him  to  bolder 
and  more  determined  and  active  resistance.  He  was  not 
onl}-  honest,  but  he  alwa3's  stood  upon  the  higher  plane  of 
true  honor.  j  j 

Mr.  Hovne  was  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term  a  self- 
made  man.  Nearly  his  whole  life  from  bo^'hood  onward 
was  spent  in  this  cit\'.  No  great  improvement,  no  step 
forward  in  the  interest   of  tiie  municipality,  or  of  the  per- 


53 


sons  composing  it,  was  conceived  or  advanced  but  that  he 
took  an  active  interest  in,  and  was  an  active  supporter  of 
it,  if  it  commended  itself  to  him.  No  history  of  this  city 
or  of  this  state  can  be  proper!}-  written,  or  be  complete, 
which  shall  fail  to  recognize  him. 

Feelings  of  personal  admiration  and  love  may  not  be 
here  expressed  by  me.  A  noble  and  genuine  man  is  gone. 
The  community  has  lost  one  of  its  oldest  and  best  known 
and  truest  citizens.  Our  profession  has  lost  one'  of  its 
ablest  and  purest  and  most  devoted  members. 

I  now  move  that,  as  an  additional  tribute  to  his  mem- 
or}^  said  memorial  of  his  professional  brethren  be  spread 
at  length  upon  the  records  of  this  court. 


3roquois  iDlub 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Iroquois  Clup  on  Tuesday  evening, 
August  7,  1883,  the  following  proceedings  were  had  in 
reference  to  the  death  of  the  late  Thomas  Hovne: 

Mr.  Erskixe  M.  Phelps,  president  of  the  club,  said: 
The  death  of  the  Honorable  Thomas  Hoyne  will  form 
one  of  the  saddest  chapters  in  the  histor}'  of  our  club. 
He  was  known  to  three  generations — to  the  old  settler, 
to  the  men  in  middle  life,  and  to  the  3'oung  men — and  his 
name  will  be  remembered  in  the  far  distant  future  as  one 
of  the  grandest  characters  of  his  time.  He  always  used 
his  influence  to  advance  and  perpetuate  the  best  in- 
terests of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  the  state,  the  citv  and 


.! 


♦  54 

this  club  have  met  witli  a  great  loss.  lie  was  one  that 
feared  nothing  except  to  do  wrong,  and  his  heart  was  as 
great  as  the  world,  though  there  was  no  room  in  it  to  hold 
the  memory  of  an  injury.  I  will  not  detain  you  longer, 
as  there  are  many  present  who  can  eulogize  his  character 
much  better  and  more  appropriately  than  myself.  Hav- 
ing been  appointed  in  my  absence  chairman  of  a  commit- 
tee to  prepare  a  paper  to  be  submitted  for  record,  I  pre- 
sent, on  their  behalf,  the  following,  which  the  secretary 
will  now  read:  '    •  i  I 

In  commemoration  of  the  affectionate  regard  of  its  members 
for  tlieir  late  brother,  Thomas  Hoyne,  of  their  appreciation  of 
liis  worth,  their  sense  of  the  loss  sustained  in  his  death,  and  their 
respectftil  sympathy  with  his  bereaveti  family,  the  Iroquois  Club 
places  on  its  record   the  following  minute  :  |' 

Thomas  Hoyne  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  February 
II,  i<Si7,and  was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  dependent  upon 
his  own  unaided  exertions.  He  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits 
with  energy  and  success,  but  in  1836,  commenced  the  study  of 
the  law  for  which  he  had  the  strongest  predilection,  and  in  1837 
followed  his  friend,  George  Manierre,  to  Chicago,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  legal  studies,  and  being  admitted  to  practice  in  1839, 
eiUered  at  once  u[)on  that  career  of  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  which 
placed  and  retained  him  to  the  day  of  his  death  among  the  fore- 
most in  the  profession  in  his  city  and  state.  He  was  city  clerk 
in  1840;  probate  justice  in  1847,  1848  to  1849;  United  States 
district  attorney  in  1853;  United  States  marshal  in  1859;  presi- 
dent of  the  Yoimg  Men's  Association,  of  the  law  department  and 
of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  University,  of  the  Public  Library 
Board;  secretary  of  the  Chicago  .\stronomical  Society;  life 
member  of  tiie  Mechanics'  Institute,  the  .Academy  of  Sciences 
and  the  Chicago  Histoiical  Society;  vi<;e-i)resident  of  the  board 
of  the  Hahnem;<nn  College;  president  of  the  Jeffersonian  Club; 


55 


vice-president  of  the  B.ir  Association  ;  acting  mayor  of  Cliicago, 
etc.,  etc.  Mr.  Hoyne  in  these  and  other  positions  displayed 
great  ability  and  the  highest  degree  of  public  spirit. 

For  more  than  forty  years  his  eloquence  has  illuminated  the 
bar  and  the  hustings;  while  his  numerous  published  addresses 
evince  learning,  culture,  elegance  of  diction  and  soundness  of 
reasoning.  He  has  been  a  prominent  citizen  of  Chicago  during 
the  whole  life  of  the  municipality,  devoted  to  its  interests,  as- 
sisting in  sustaining  its  burdens,  proud  of  its  marvelous  growth 
and  prosperity,  and  anxious  for  its  good  name.  He  has  for  so  . 
long  been  a  part  of  its  wonderful  history  that  his  unexpected 
_  death  falls  with  the  weight  Of  a  personal  blow  upon  the  entire 
communitv.  - 

Mr.  Hoyne  was  a  democrat  upon  conviction.  He  professed 
that  creed  which  holds  among  its  essential  principles  "  the  sup- 
]jort  of  the  state  governments  in  all  their  rights  as  the  most  com- 
petent administrations  for  our  domestic  concerns  and  the  surest 
bulwarks  against  anti-republican  tendencies  ;  the  preservation  of 
the  general  government  in  its  whole  constitutional  vigor  ds  the 
sheet  anchor  of  our  peace  at  home  and  safety  abroad  ;"  economy 
in  the  public  expense  and  taxation  limited  to  governmental  wants, 
that  labor  may  be  lightly  burdened  and  not  be  despoiled  of  its 
fruits ;  the  diffusion  of  information  and  the  arraignment  of  all 
abuses  at  the  bar  of  public  reason  ;  freedom  of  religion,  of  the 
press,  of  thought  and  opinion,  freedom  of  the  person,  of  com- 
merce and  of  avocation  ;  a  jealous  care  of  the  right  of  election  by 
the  ])eople  and  of  the  eijual  rights  of  all  men  imvexed  by  mo- 
nojjoly  ;  that  creed  which  declares  for  a  wise  and  frugal  govern- 
ment, confined  to  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  and 
the  ])reservation  of  social  order,  and  having  as  little  to  do  with 
the  general  business  and  interests  of  the  people  as  possible. 

But  while  these  principles  placed  hini  in  the  school  of  con- 
stitutional strict  constructionists,  no  strictness  of  constitutional 
construction  could  close  his  ears  to  the  moan  of  the  sh\c,  or 
weaken  the  force  of  his  adherence  to  the  cause  of  an  undivided 
union,  in  its  darkest  hour.       ■  •    ": 


;■••■  "56 

He  was  a  democrat,  but  not  necessarilj'  a  partisan.  His  be- 
lief was  in  first  principles,  and  therefore  the  mere  machinerj'  of 
party  never  obscured  with  him  the  great  purposes,  to  subserve 
which  such  machinery  can  only  have  legitimate  existence. 

And  as  above  all  things  he  abominated  dishonesty,  and  could 
not  see  why  a  man's  life  should  not  be  as  pure  and  a  man's 
heart  as  tender  as  a  child's  life  and  a  child's  heart,  so  he  loathed 
|)olitical  corruption  and  shrank  with  abhorrence  from  that  des- 
pair of  the  republic  which  treats  such  corruption  as  inevitable 
and  to  be  tolerated  accordingly.  ;     ■  j 

Mr.  Hoyne  was  one  of  the  founders  of  this  organization,  and 
largely  instrumental  in  the  achievement  of  the  success  which  has 
attended  its  efforts.  He  saw  in  it  a  means  of  elevating  the  tone 
of  party,  of  disseminating  correct  principles  of  government,  and 
of  exerting  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  public  welfare. 

His  wise  counsels,  his  facile  peu,  his  eloquent  voice  and  his 
delightful  companionship  will  be  sadly  missed.  | 

His  virtues  will  live  in  the  recollections  of  his  comrades,  and 
the  remembrance  of  what  he  was  and  what  he  did  will  be  trans- 
mitted to  those  who  will  come  after  us,  to  be  ever  held  in 
honored  memory.  ,  , 


Following  the  memorial,  addresses  were  made  b}'  a 
number  of  gentlemen,  which,  as  an  expression  of  the  esti- 
mate in  which  Mr.  Hoj'ne  was  held  by  those  who  knew 
him  best,  and  as  presenting  varied  views  of  his  many- 
sided  character  are  appended. 

Mr.  M.  W.  Fuller:  - 

"  Men  must  endure 
Their  soing  hence,  even  as  their  coming  hither. 
Ripeness  is  all." 

When  the  final  summons  came,  our  brother  Hoyne  re- 
sponded, bringing  his  sheaves  with  him;  the  sheaves  of  a 
well  spent  life,  the  garnered  harvest  of  honorable  profes- 


sional  and  business  toil,  and  iiigh  minded  and  public 
spirited  endeavor;  of  affectionate  devotion  to  family  and 
friends,  and  of  that  upright  walk  and  conversation,  which 
leaves  a  memory  the  world  does  not  willing)}-  let  die.  No 
better  illustration  of  the  career  open  to  all  men  under  re 
publican  institutions  can  be  imagined  than  is  furnished  by 
the  story  of  the  orphaned  bo}-  who  became  the  distin- 
gbished,  useful  and  beloved  man  whose  departure  wt- 
now  deplore. 

Intellectual  ability  did  much  for  Thomas  Hoyne,  bui 
indomitable  courage  and  perseverance,  and  unswerving 
inteffritv  did  more.  These  enabled  him  to  descrzr  thf 
success  which  that  commanded,  and  to  them  were  added 
an  intrepidity  of  utterance  and  a  sincerity  of  conviction 
so  remarkable  as  in  themselves  to  insure  distinction.  ..'    ." 

The  tendency  of  the  time,  notwithstanding  the  roar  of 
much  speaking,  is  to  absolute  silence  or  half  inarticulate 
expression  on  the  part  of  man}-  of  the  wise  and  thought- 
ful. "  Silent  they  are,  though  not  content,  and  wait  to  see 
the  future  come."  But  this  tendency  is  rather  natural 
than  commendable.  To  speak  out  is  worth  a  great  deal 
Whatever  the  value  of  the  utterance,  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion of  the  value  of  having  an  utterance.  Mr.  Hoyne 
was  one  of  those  who  spoke  out.  I  do  not  mean  that  he 
indulged  in  talk  for  the  mere  sake  of  talking^  but  that 
having  decided  convictions  upon  subjects  concerning  the 
public  weal,  he  did  not  ponder  in  his  tent,  but  gave  open 
and  manly  battle  in  support  of  his  opinions.  His  repu- ■ 
tation  was  not  diminished  b}'  this,  but  increased.    ;. 

A  castle — to  use  the  comparison  of  another — a  castle 
ma}'  be  defended  by  dropping  the  portcullis  and  drawing 
up  the  bridge,  or  by  sallying  out  upon  the  surrounding 
country.      Mr.  Hoyne  did  not  maintain  his  high  charactei 


58 


Ii}-  taking  refuge  behind  the  entrenchments  of  caution, 
but  by  attacking  the  enemy  in  the  open  field.  The  simple 
honesty  of  his  character  \\as  as  marked  as  its  fearlessness. 
lie,  in  a  just  sense,  kept  himself  unspotted  from  the  world. 
I  le  haled  corruption,  fie  could  not  comprehend  how 
men  could  come  to  wear  their  spots  as  if  they  were  jewels. 
He  absolutely  abjured  the  theory  that  in  politics  or  busi- 
ness results  cannot  be  reached  except  bj-  processes  that 
stain.  He  refused  to  regard  public  or  business  aflairs  as 
pitch  that  could  not  be  handled  without  defilement.  Im- 
petuous in  action,  his  instincts  naturally  led  him  in  the 
right  direction.  Impetuous  in  speech,  his  speech  was 
naturally  in  support  of  that  which  was  true  and  honest, 
and  of  good  report.    ;  ! 

This  is  not  the  occasion  on  which  to  speak  of  Mr. 
Hoj-ne's  professional  merits  and  standing.  Tliis  associa- 
tion to  whose  organization  and  progress  he  contributed  so 
much,  though  largely  social,  is  distinctively  political.  The 
wise  maxim,  '•  that  is  the  best  government  that  governs 
least,"  found  in  Mr.  Hoyne  an  ardent  adherent.  He  was 
opposed  to  centralization  and  in  favor  of  individualism. 
Helieving  in  local  self-government,  he  was  opposed  to  the 
destruction  of  tiie  rights  of  the  States;  a  sincere  lover  of 
the  Union  he  utterlv  rejected  tiie  idea  of  an  inherent 
power  of  dissolution  among  its  members.  With  views  of 
political  economy  based  upon  the  profound  work  which 
with  the  declaration  of  independence  signalized  bv  mon- 
umental land-marks  the  close  of  the  last  century,  he  in- 
dignantly denounced  the  doctrine  which  would  interpose 
artificial  barriers  to  the  beneficent  action  of  commerce  and 
the  intercourse  of  men  and  nations  with  each  other. 
Opposed  to  making  a  written  constitution  blank  paper  by 
construction,  he  did  not  assent  to  improvements  at  the 


59 


expense  of  the  general  government  unless  for  objects  of 
distinctively  national  importance,  and  was,  in  any  view, 
against  extravagant  governmental  expenditure. 

He  believed  in   the  equal  rights  of  all  men  before   the    . 
law;  the  repression  of  monopoly;  the  purging  of  tiie  pub- 
lic service  of  corruption  and  inefficiency,  and  the  applica-  . 
tion   of  the   tests   for  admission   to  office  of  honest}'  and 
capacity.      He  was  a  Jeffersonian  democrat,  and  died  hi 
.  the  conviction  that  the  party  to  which  he  belonged  would 
be  ultimately  restored  to  power,  having  trampled  under 
its  feet  the  follies,  the  blunders  and  the  weakness  which 
for  a  time  may  have  rendered  it  undeserving  of  the  entiroT 
confidence  of  the  people.     While  to  that  party  his  death 
is  a  sensible  deprivation,  he  has  left  to  it  a  bright  example, 
through  the  imitation  of  which  his  hopes  will  yet  find  full 
realization.  .;  .  ■,    ,  ,. , 

And  so,  Mr.  President,  we  must  bid  him  good-bye,  but 
in  tiie  sure  and  certain  hope  that  we  shall  see  him  again. 
This  loving  husband  and  father,  this  aflectionate  brother 
and  friend,  this  good  citizen,  exemplified  in  himself  that 
need  of  loving  and  of  being  loved,  which  allouK  an  mi- 
pregnable  ground  on  which  to  base  the  glorious  doctiitu 
of  immortalit}-. 

The  circle  narrows  as  we  go, 

But  only  here;  "  * 

Comrades  in  life  to  every  heart  most  dear,  ' 

In  the  eternal  realm  we  yet  shaill  know, 

With  a  diviner  knowledge  than  helovv. 


Hon.  Lv.m.\n  Trumbull. 

Mr.  Presidknt:  I  came  here  this  evening  more  out 
of  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  departed  fi  lend,  and  to 
hear  what  should  be  said  by  others,  than  expecting  to  say 


6o 


anything  myself  that  would  be  new  or  of  interest  to  those 
ihat  hear  it.  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Hoyne,  although 
it  dates  back,  many  years,  was  not  intimate  until  recently, 
.md  never  as  intimate,  probablj-,  as  that  of  many  others. 
I  knew  him  as  a  lawyer  many  vears  ago.  I  do  not 
remember  now  when  I  first  met  him,  but  for  the  last  fif- 
teen or  twenty  years  I  have  met  him  more  frequently  and 
known  more  of  him.  The  characteristics  of  the  man  which 
always  struck  me  were  his  earnestness  and  frankness. 
There  was  no  concealment  about  him.  He  was  out- 
spoken. He  was  an  enthusiastic  man,  an  independent 
man,  a  man  of  convictions,  and  a  fearless  man.  He  was 
not  afraid  to  avow  his  opinions.  You  always  knew  where 
to  find  him. 

The  minute  which  has  been  prepared  here  shows  he 
has  held  various  public  positions,  and  I  think  it  maj-  be 
said  of  him  that  he  discliarged  the  duties  of  every  one  of 
them  satisfactorily,  without  any  blemish  upon  his  reputa- 
tion. I  did  not  know  him  as  a  lawyer  as  well  as  some 
others,  but  he  was  a  public-spirited  man.  Whatever  was 
started  in  the  community  where  he  lived,  calculated  to 
benefit  mankind,  to  relieve  suffering,  to  improve  society, 
to  advance  education,  had  his  hearty  support.  He  was  a 
liberal  man,  liberal  in  his  views,  and  with  his  means;  and 
as  an  evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  b\'  those 
who  knew  him,  we  saw  at  his  funeral  one  of  the  largest 
assemblages  that  ever  convened  on  such  an  occasion — an 
assemblage  drawn  together  not  by  anj-  imposing  ceremo- 
nies of  military  display  or  of  societies  to  which  he  may  have 
belonged,  but  an  outpouring  of  the  people — which  reminded 
me  of  the  most  remarkable  funeral  which  I  ever  attended, 
where  I  saw  the  largest  assemblage  which  f  have  ever 
seen;   where    there  was  no  military  parade,  no  organized 


6i 


societies  to  swell  the  crowd,  but  where  the  streets  for  fivr 
miles  were  lined  with  vast  multitudes  of  people,  drawn 
together  out  of  respect  to  the  departed.  Not  a  bell  was 
tolled,  not  a  drum  was  beat,  not  a  gun  was  fired,  bui 
with  uncovered  heads  two  hundred  thousand  people  stood 
silent  as  the  bod\'  was  borne  along  to  its  last  resting  place. 
I  thought  of  this  as  I  witnessed  the  large  concourse  of 
people  that  assembled  to  pay  their  last  respects  to  our 
departed  friend  the  other  day. 

So  far  as  I  know,  Mr.  Hoj-ne  had  no  enemies,  and  that 
is  singular.  That  a  man  of  his  positive  character,  of  his 
decided  opinions,  of  his  open  declaration  of  what  he 
thought,  should  have  no  enemies,  is  wonderful.  A  man 
of  that  character  is  apt  to  create  antagonism,  and  I  can 
only  account  for  his  not  giving  offense  b}'  the  fact  that 
in  the  expression  of  his  opinions  and  of  his  convictions, 
he  always  carried  with  their  declaration  to  his  hearer 
the  conviction  that  he  was  sincere  and  honest  in  what 
he  said.  He  was  permitted  to  ditier  with  others  and 
antagonize  them  in  strong  and  decided  language,  ami 
the}'  put  up  with  it  without  offense,  for  they  knew  he  ' 
was  honest  in  his  convictions.  He  was  true;  he  was 
fearless;  he  was  liberal,  and  the  world  is  better  for  his 
havinjj  been  here. 

As  has  been  said  here  to-night,  he  was  connected  with 
three  generations;  he  belonged  to  that  older  class  of  the 
community  which  is  rapidl}'  passing  avva}'.  Perhaps  I 
appreciate  this  more  than  some  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  legal  profession,  and  some  of  the  y-ounge^  of  his 
acquaintances.  One  after  another  those  with  whom  I 
have  been  contemporary  are  parsing  awa}';  but  few  arc 
left,  and  it  will  be  fortunate  for  the  rest  of  us,  whose  end 
draweth  nigh,  if,  when  our  time  comes,  it  can  be  said  of 


62 


US,  as  we  may  say  to-day  of  Mr.  Hovne — he  was  an 
upright,  an  honest,  a  truthful  man;  he  served  his  country 
well,  and  has  left  an  example  worthy  of  imitation  for  all 
^vho  follow  him. 


Mayor  Harri.son. 

Genti.emen:  I  hardly  feel  as  if  I  were  capable  of  say- 
ing anything  of  Mr.  Ho}-ne  that  would  be  of  any  interest 
to  this  assemblage;  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe  in 
idle  or  empty  panegyric.  I  believe  it  is  too  often  the 
habit  of  men  to  utter  fulsome  praise,  following  the  old 
maxim  of  "  Dc  niortnis  nil  nisi  bonum.''^  I  have  known 
Mr.  Hoyne  for  many  years.  It  is  twenty-seven  or  twenty- 
eight  years  since  I  first  met  liim,  yet  I  can  say  probabl}- 
that  I  never  knew  him  intimately.  I  should  judge  from 
his  manner  and  bearing  that  but  few  men  could  know 
him  intimately;  his  bearing,  manner  and  character  had 
that  dignity  tliat  could  be  called  severe;  a  reserve  that 
was  almost  hard;  that  would  prevent  many  from  ap- 
proaching too  closel\-  to  liim,  and  allowing  but  a  ver3-  few 
to  become  intimately  his  friends.  Though  meeting  him 
quite  often  socially,  a  great  many  times  in  ordinary  gath- 
erings of  men  and  women — not  infrequently  on  public 
occasions,  and  quite  often  in  discussions  and  consultations 
regarding  the  affairs  of  the  city,  or  on  business,  I  arrived 
at  this  conclusion  as  to  his  character:  that  his  was  an 
earnest  character — so  earnest  that  it  mijxht  be  called 
intense. 

It  is  some  twenty-seven  years  ago,  I  think,  that  I 
happened  to  be  passing  by  some  place  here  in  this  locality, 
where  there  was  public  speaking  going  on.     I  was  com- 


.■    ■ 


(>?, 


paratively  a  new  comer.  I  went  in,  and  Mr.  Hoj-rt^^Wiq 
making  a  speech.  The  impression  that  he  convej^e 
me  then  has  never  left  me;  that  is,  the  impression  of  u 
man  (rreatlv  in  earnest  in  whatever  he  said  and  what  - 
ever  he  did.  All  of  my  intercourse  with  him  since  then 
has  rather  increased  the  feeling  that  I  then  had.  I  can 
say  this  for  Mr.  Hoyne,  that  his  earnestness  was  that  of  oni; 
never  giving  his  talents  to  anything  that  was  little,  anti" 
always  for  the  good  of  the  public.  As  Mr.  Leitet 
remarked  in  his  letter,  he  was  an  intense  hater  of  shams; 
so  intense  that  he  oftentimes  thought  things  were  shams 
simply  because  he  had  not  looked  into  them,  and  despised 
the  thing  so  much,  that  many  things  were  shams  to  hini 
that  probably  were  not  really  so.  I  have  had  a  good 
deal  of  intercourse  with  him  in  connection  with  city 
aflairs  and  public  affairs.  I  never  knew  one  in  all  my  • 
life  more  earnest  than  he  was  in  his  desire  to  see  th;U 
done  which  was  for  the  good  of  this  city  and  this  people. 
He  would  often  approach  me  with  almost  vitupei-ations 
about  something  that  was  going  on  not  according  to  whai 
he  thought  was  just  right,  but  after  talking  for  awhile 
and  showing  him  that  he  might  be  mistaken,  I  always 
found  that  he  was  readv  to  concede  to  artjument  thai 
which  was  due  to  argument. 

He  was  always  ready  to  look  within,  even  though  h( 
came  with  the  intention  of  smashing  what  appeared  to  him 
to  be  a  wrong,  but  when  he  saw  that  it  was  right,  ho 
readily  conceded  it,  although  sometimes  it  was  a  little- 
difficult  for  him  to  acknowledge  it  for  some  time.  I  do 
not  think  I  know  of  a  man  who  has  lived  in  Chicago  since 
I  have  been  here,  who  could  be  said  to  be  more  sincereK  * 
patriotic  than  he  was.  He  admired  Chicago,  he  loved  it; 
and  his  irftscibility  was  aroused  to  its  highest  pitch  when 


64 


lie  thought  any  one  was  intending  to  do  that  which  he 
thought  was  wrong,  or  which  would  trench  on  the  rights 
i)f  the  people  and  upon  the  rights  of  this  city. 

That  he  was  an  honest  man,  none  that  knew  him  well 
could  for  a  moment  doubt.  With  great  prejudices;  yet  I 
never  knew  his  prejudices,  when  we  were  together,  not 
readily  yielding  to  that  which  he  thought  was  honest, 
and  he  always  despised  and  reprobated  that  which 
was  dishonest.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the 
proudest  feeling  a  man  can  have  when  approaching  his 
end,  is  that  his  fellow-men  can  say,  when  they  approach 
his  tomb:  "  Here  lies  an  honest  man."  All  other  charac- 
teristics fall  as  nothing  in  weight  compared  to  that: 
I  believe  Mr.  Hoyne  was  of  that  character.  He  was 
blunt  in  the  extreme;  yet  there  was,  with  all  of  his 
bluntness  and  his  reserve,  a  warmth  of  heart  that,  when 
he  took  \ou  by  the  hand,  even  though  he  said  but  little, 
made  j'ou  Jeel  that  there  was  the  grasp  of  a  warm  heart 
behind.  | 

But  few  men  have  lived  here  who  will  leave  a  better 
record  than  he  has  left.  His  example  is  one  that  all 
should  follow;  a  kind  father — that  I  know,  for  I  have 
seen  him  among  his  famil}' — a  loving  nusband,  a  patriotic 
citizen  and  an  honest  man.  Write  that  epitaph  upon  his 
tombstone — and  no  one  can  have  that  epitaph  written  in 
letters  more  bold  and  more  brilliant. 

We  all  know  that  he  was  a  man  of  strong  intellect.  He 
was  critical,  3-et  the  characteristic  of  his  mind  was 
strength  more  than  anything  else.  He  was  a  strong  man. 
A  strong  and  earnest  man.  We  here,  as  members  of 
this  club,  may  well  regret  his  untimely  taking  ofT.  As 
citizens  and  as  democrats,  members  of  this  brotherhood, 
we  shall  always  regret  the  man  who   was  taken  from  us. 


because  we  regarded  him  as  one  of  the  strong,  earnest 
inen  of  our  city  and  of  our  club.  I-  *•  '       '  ■', 

I  am  glad  the  club  has  met  together  to  express  in  reso- 
lutions their  admiration  of  his  character,  and  I  only  regret 
that  I  cannot  sa}'  sometiiing  that  would  make  stronger 
what  has  already  been  expressed. 


Judge  Thos.  A.  Moran.  ..• 

Mr.  Chairman:  It  is  natural  for  a  law^-er,  when  he 
comes  to  speak  of  a  deceased  brother  in  the  profession,  to 
speak  of  him  from  a  professional  standpoint,  as  he  is  more 
likely  to  know  him  from  that  than  from  any  other  point 
of  view.  As  has  been  well  said  by  a  gentleman  who  pre- 
ceded me,  however,  his  professional  character  and  stand- 
ing, so  high  and  eminent  at  this  bar,  will  be  more  appro- 
priatelv  spoken  of  at  a  meeting  of  his  professional 
brethren.  Here  the  aspect  in  which  we  are  to  call  to 
recollection  the  characteristics  of  our  deceased  friend  is  in 
that  view  of  his  character  that  pertains  more  particular!}' 
to  him  as  a  citizen. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  he  was  the  friend  and  adviser 
of  three  generations  of  men,  the  old  settlers,  the  middle- 
aged  men,  and  the  young  men  of  to-da}'.  I  suppose  I 
may  fairl}'  class  mjself  among  those  of  the  middle  age. 
My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Iloyne  commenced  about  the 
year  1866,  but  it  was  not  intimate  until  the  occasion  when 
he  was  elected  by  such  an  overwhelming  majorit\-  of  the 
people  as  acting  mayor  of  this  city.  Circumstances  threw 
me  into  familiar  relations  with  him  during  the  time  that 
he  administered  the  affairs  of  the  city,  and  from  that  time 
to  this  I  have  regarded  myself  as  one  of  his  close  and 


66 


warm  friends.  Much  has  been  said,  and  all  that  has  been 
said  is  true,  with  reference  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Hoyne, 
and  much  that  I  would  have  said  myself,  has  been  said, 
and  it  is  left,  therefore,  only  for  me  to  allude  to  one 
or  two  aspects  in  which  I  think  he  is  to  be  remembered; 
and  one  is  this:  one  of  the  dangers  of  to-day,  one  of  the 
things  that  thoughtful  men,  it  seems  to  me,  in  this  time 
have  their  attention  most  directed  to,  and  are  seeking 
most  carefully  to  guard  against,  is  what  may  be  known  as 
infamous  political  methods.  j 

Now,  one  of  the  impressions  that  Mr.  Hoyne  always 
made  upon  me,  in  all  the  intercourse  that  I  had  with  him, 
political  and  otherwise,  was  this,  he  saw  a  principle 
clearl}',  he  was  a  strong  believer  in  his  part}'  faith,  he 
ardently  desired  to  have  that  party  creed  carried  into 
political  action  by  the  success  of  his  part}';  but  he  utterly- 
abhorred  and  detested  the  idea  that  that  political  faith 
should  ever  be  carried  into  political  action  by  anything 
like  a  dishonest  political  method.  There  was  nothing 
about  him  that  was  sly.  He  was  not  a  manager;  he  was 
not  a  wirepuller.  There  was  no  chicane  or  intrigue  about 
him.  He  did  not  know  how  to  make  such  a  fight  as 
that.  As  has  been  well  said,  he  walked  out  into  the  open 
fields  where  there  was  plenty  of  room  all  around  him, 
and  there  he  invited  the  attack  of  his  enemy,  and  there 
he  stood  and  maintained  his  ground.  That  was  his  char- 
acteristic in  political  action.  He  made,  a  square,  manly, 
upright  fight  for  political  principle,  and  he  had  an  utter 
detestation  and  intense  abhorrence  of  everything  like 
political  chicane,  political  intrigue,  or  infamous  political 
methods  or  action. 

Now,  in  losing  iiim  at  this  time,  when  there  is  so  little 
— so  little,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  without  intending 


V 

i 

'.A 


,J,.. 


to  enter  upon  the  domain  of  party  politics  —  so  little 
that  in  principle  divides  the  parties,  when  it  seems 
to  me  it  is  more  a  question  of  political  methods,  honest 
political  methods,  than  anything  else,  the  loss  of  such  a 
man  at  this  time  is  a  great  loss.  Let  us  as  democrats 
remember  and  profit  by  the  example  of  our  dead  friend. 
Let  us  recollect  that  no  matter  how  ardently  we  maj* 
desire  the  control  of  the  government,  that  our  principles 
may  be  carried  out,  and  that,  as  we  believe,  honest 
methods  may  be  introduced,  we  can  never  afford  from  the 
standpoint  of  our  dead  friend — we  can  never  afford  to  take 
the  control  of  the  government  through  any  other  than 
honest  and  American  methods.  That  was  one  phase  of  his 
character  that  has  impressed  itself  upon  me  so  strongl}- 
that,  if  I  never  had  read  the  lesson  elsewhere  in  my 
life,  I  never  should  be  able  to  forget  it.  ' '  :    . 

Another  thought  occurs  to  me.  Thomas  Hoyne  has, 
in  my  opinion,  without  attempting  to  give  him  any  ful- 
some or  e.xtraordinary  praise,  impressed  himself  more 
upon  the  city  of  Chicago  as  a  city,  than  any  other  man 
within  my  knowledge.  I  know  of  no  man  now,  I  can 
think  of  none,  living  or  dead,  who  has  impressed  himself 
on  the  city  of  Chicago  so  strongly  and  so  markedly  as 
Thomas  Hoyne.  Fellow  citizens,  just  reflect  for  a  moment, 
how  many  things  have  been  done,  have  been  accomplished 
that  would  not  have  been  accomplished  if  he  had  not  been 
a  citizen  of  Chicago,  and  how  many  things  are  left  undone 
that  would  have  .been  done  if  he  had  not  been  a  citizen 
of  Chicago.  Why,  you  can  imagine  it  gentlemen,  but  it 
cannot  be  computed.  He  was  to  his  political  enemies  a 
terror,  and  man}'  schemes,  many  efforts  to  despoil  the 
public,  would  have  come  to  the  front  and  have  been  suc- 
cessful, if  it  had  not  been  for  fear  of  the  Hon -like  indigna- 


68  .  .  .1. 

tion  oft  Thomas  Hoyne.  He  was  a  terror  to  his  political 
enemioS  in  that  respect,  and  he  was  a  mentor,  sir,  to  his 
political  friends.  Wiiy,  I  can  almost  see,  as  the  news 
came  to  him  that  some  scheme  was  under  way — as  the 
idea  came  to  him  that  something  was  going  to  be  done 
to  injure  tlie  character  of  the  citv,  to  bring  disgrace  upon 
it,  or  to  put  him  or  his  political  friends  in  a  wrong  atti- 
tude— I  can  almost  see  him  as  with  Jove-like  front  he 
assailed  the  first  man  that  he  met  upon  the  streets  whom 
he  thought  connected  with  it,  and  he  assailed  him  in  terms 
tiiat  were  not  to  be  misunderstood;  and  he  assailed  him, 
as  Judge  Trumbull  says,  with  an  air  and  with  language 
that  imparted  to  the  individual  that  whether  Hojme  was 
rigiit  or  wrong,  Hoyne  was  honest  and  in  earnest. 

These  were  the  characteristics  of  Thomas  Ho^-ne,  and 
I  say  he  has  left  his  impression  on  the  city  of  Chicago. 
He  was  an  ideal  citizen  of  Chicago.  He  heartily  par- 
ticipated in  everything  that  was  undertaken  ^or  the  benefit 
of  the  city.  He  helped  it  along,  and  he  was  a  hot  and 
heavy  antagonist  of  everything  that  he  regarded  as  being 
against  its  interest,  and  nothing  of  that  kind  triumphed 
witliout  a  figlit  with  Tiiomas  Ho3-ne.  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that  when  some  scheme  of  plunder  is  devised  in 
this  cit}-;  when  some  intrigue  comes  to  light — as  it  may- 
come  in  the  future — winding  itself  about  the  municipality, 
shall  we  not  stand  and  sa\-,  "  O,  for  thirty  minutes  of 
honest  Thomas  Hoyne's  liot  indignation  to  arouse  honest 
men,  and  to  strike  terror  to  schemers!"  I 

Such  allusions  may  be  out  of  place  on  an  occasion  like 
this,  but  what  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  this,  such  a  man  as 
Mr.  Hoyne  ought  not  to  be  let  live  and  die  without  teach- 
ing his  lesson.  Quick  in  temper,  perhaps  sometimes 
hasty  in  judgment,  but  always  honest  in  speech  and   in 


69 


action,  he  did  not,  as  many  citizens  do,  who  are  intelligent, 
and  see  as  clearly  as  he  did,  he  did  not  sit  quietly  by  and 
criticise  in  a  whisper.  There  are  two  kinds  of  good  citi- 
zens, sir.  There  is  the  good,  intelligent  citizen  who  goes 
down  to  his  business  every  day,  who  pays  his  debts  hon- 
estly, who  pays  his  taxes  when  the  bill  is  presented,  who 
reads  his  newspaper,  and  who  in  his  family  or  with  his 
next  door  neighbor  criticises  the  public  acts,  denounces 
public  corruption  and  abuses  a  public  officer  who  has  been 
guilty  of  some  wrong,  but  who  does  not  attend  political 
meetings,  does  not  go  to  the  primary,  frequently  neglects 
to  cast  his  vote,  and  thus  makes  no  impression  whatever 
upon  the  politics  of  his  time. 

There  is  the  other  citizen  who  is  a  model  citizen,  who 
thinks  intelligently,  who  is  informed  in  public  affairs,  who 
sees  what  is  going  on,  who,  whether  he  is  in  office  or  out 
of  office,  perceiving  that  something  must  be  done,  does 
not  whisper  in  the  ear  of  his  neighbor,  does  not  secretly- 
think  in  his  own  heart,  but  goes  out  and  goes  into  action 
at  once.  And  such  a  model  citizen  was  Thomas  Hoyne, 
and  such  was  his  example  for  us,  and  Mr.  President,  in 
the  hope  that  such  an  example  shall  not  be  lost,  in  the  hope 
that  among  the  citizens  of  Chicago  who  knew  him, among 
those  who  are  left,  some  man  may  be  found  to  in  part  take 
his  place,  and  give  honest  expression  ta  such  thoughts  as 
were  frequently  expressed  by  Mr.  Hoyne,  not  seeking 
self,  not  seeking  office,  but  seeking  merely  the  public 
weal,  and  expressing  to  friend  and  to  foe  alike,  honest  con- 
victions, outspoken  and  manly,  in  the  hope  and  belief  that 
his  life  will  have  taught  this  lesson,  I, can  safely  say  no 
better  example  could  be  set,  no  higher  lesson  taught  by 
the  life  of  any  citizen. 


^r^ 


,'■'.'*' 


/ 

* 


70 


'  Judge  M.   F.  Tuley. 

Gentlemen  :  I  expected  to  be  silent  on  this  occasion. 
I  knew  that  there  were  many  others  here  who  could  better 
speak  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  and  I,  myself,  feel  so  deeply  his  loss 
that  I  am  unable  to  properly  express  my  feelings  in 
regard  thereto,  and  my  high  appreciation  of  him  as  a  man 
and  as  a  citizen.  I  have  known  Mr.  Hoyne  for  many 
years,  quite  intimatel}-  since  1869,  when  I  occupied  the 
position  of  corporation  counsel,_and  was  drawn  in  connec- 
tion with  him  in  the  various  matters  relative  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  city.  I,  like  many  others,  admired  his  sturd\- 
independence  of  character,  and  his  great  devotion  to  the 
public  interests.  He  was  an  extraordinary  man  in  this 
particular,  that  with  him  the  public  interest  was  alwa3's 
first,  his  private  interests  secondary,  and  he  was  one 
of  the  few  men  of  my  acquaintance  that  appeared  to 
have  a  proper  appreciation  of  his  duties  to  society,  his 
relative  duties  as  a  member  of  society  and  a  citizen.  He 
was  not  absorbed  entirely  in  the  pursuit  of  self-gratifica- 
tion or  self-interest,  but  he  recognized  that  his  first  duly 
was  to  the  public.  Eie  was  the  enemy  of  all  kinds  of 
corruption.  He  hated  all  kinds  of  cunning,  artifice  and 
treachery.  I  have  many  times  discussed  public  matters 
with  him  and  always  with   great  profit. 

I  learned  in  our  many  long  walks  together,  not  onl\'  to 
admire  him,  but  to  have  a  strong  affection  for  him.  Lean 
only  add,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  that  I  concur  in 
all  the  eulogy  that  has  been  passed  upon  him,  and  that  1 
join  with  all  present  in  deploring  his  loss. 


7t 


Mr.  C.  P.  Kimball.  "  ,v 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  It  would  hardly 
seem  fit  for  me  to  attempt  to  add  anything  to  what  has 
already  been  so  ably  and  admirably  said  regarding  our 
deceased  friend. 

I  came  to  Chicago  to  make  this  my  future  home  seven 
3'ears  ago  the  coming  November.  Within  a  ver\'  few 
weeks  after  I  came  here  I  was  invited  to  spend  the  even- 
ing with  a  friend,  and  there  for  the  first  time  met  Mr. 
Ho^-ne,  and  all  of  you  people  who  have  changed  your 
residence  at  anything  near  middle  life,  will  remember  the 
impression  that  every  man  makes  upon  j'ou  when  you  first 
see  him.  There  is  not  a  public  man  or  a  prominent 
business  man  in  Chicago  with  whom  it  has  been  my 
good  fortune  within  the  last  seven  years  to  become 
acquainted,  and  mj'  business  makes  my  acquaintance  in 
that  wa}',  that  has  not  left  an  impression  of  some  kind  on 
my  mind. 

I  often  think  that  the  impressions  I  first  receive  are  too 
strong,  that  I  ought  to  be  more  careful,  and  not  form  so 
positive  an  opinion  upon  a  man's  character  upon  so  short 
an  acquaintance,  but  I  generally  find  that  the  first  impres- 
sion is  the  correct  one.  Mr.  Hoyne  made  a  marked 
impression  on  my  mind  the  first  time  I  met  him;  he  was 
so  cordial,  so  kind,  so  generous,  that  before  I  parted  with 
him  that  evening  it  seemed  to  me  he  had  been  my  life- 
long friend,  and  from  that  moment  I  formed  a  friendship 
for  him  that  I  seldom  form  for  any  tnatj.  I  admired,  and 
soon  learned  to  actually  love  him.       1  '  "  •    .  .•    - 

A.S  he  passed  back  and  forth  from  his  business  he  often 
called  at  my  place  of  business.  Only  a  few  days  before 
he,  left  for  the  east  he  called  and  we  had.  a  delightful  chat 


A 


72 


together,  which  I  enjoyed  immensely.  I  never  met  Mr. 
Hoyne  and  parted  from  him  when  I  did  not  feel  that  I 
had  learned  something.  I  always  say  when  I  go  to  church 
and  hear  a  minister  preach,  if  I  do  not  know  a  little  more 
when  I  go  home  than  I  did  when  I  went  to  church,  it  was 
time  lost.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  left  Mr.  Hoyne  when  I 
did  not  feel  that  I  knew  a  little  more  than  when  I  met 
him.  There  was  that  peculiar  characteristic  about  him 
that  ingratiated  him  into  your  heart  at  once;  and  every 
word  that  has  been  said  here  to-night  about  his  marvel- 
ous character  struck  me  forcibly  in  all  respects.  I  never 
saw  a  man  in  my  life  that  more  thoroughl)'  impressed  me 
with  the  purity  of  his  character,  the  high  and  lofty  aims 
and  aspirations  in  every  sense  of  the  word  than  Thomas 
Hoyne.  He  was  as  pure  as  a  child.  He  was  earnest  and 
unyielding  against  ever3'thing  that  he  thought  was  wrong, 
and  as  earnest  and  unyielding  for  everything  he  thought 
was  right,  and  no  man,  however  gifted  he  may  be,  and 
we  have  Chicago's  most  gifted  sons  here  to-night,  and  no 
one  of  tiiem,  in  my  judgment,  has  over-estimated  his 
characteristics,  or  has  over-praised  his  good  qualities  and 
his  good  character,  and  no  one  can  possibly  express  the 
terrible  loss  that  this  state,  this  city,  this  club,  and  his 
friends  have  met  in  the  death  of  our  dear,  good  friend. 

,    r  ■ 

Col.  Shirley. 

Mr.  ChaiRi^ian:  I  feel  most  deeply  the  solemnity  of  this 
occasion,  and  bring  here  these  wild  flowers  of  affection  as 
my  offering  to  the  memory  of  our  departed  brother.  Per- 
haps no  member  of  this  club  has  known  the  deceased 
longer  than  I  have  in  the  city  of  Chicago.     In  the  fall  of 


73 


1849  I  bore  a  letter  of  introduction  to  now  Judge  Mark 
Skinner,  who  was  then  a  partner  with  Mr.  Hoyne,  and 
became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hoyne  at  that  time;  and 
since  then  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  my  acquaint- 
ance with  him  was  of  such  a  character  that  I  knew  him 
and  understood  him  thoroughly.  There  was  scarcely  a 
week  when  he  was  in  Chicago  that  I  did  not  meet  him 
and  talk  with  him.  I  believe  I  understood  his  character; 
and  of  all  the  men  I  have  ever  known  anywhere  at  any 
place  I  never  have  known  a  more  bold,  fearless,  just  and 
upright  man.  He  did  nothing  for  popularity's  sake. 
He  did  not  care  when  he  had  espoused  a  cause  and  was 
battling  against  what  he  believed  to  be  wrong,  whether  it 
pleased  the  populace  or  not.  He  did  not  think  what  this 
man  would  say  or  that  man  would  say  about  him,  and 
how  they  would  vote  if  he  should  become  a  candidate 
before  the  people;  and  in  this  day  of  demagogism,  of 
sham,  hj'pocrisy  and  pretense,  it  is  refreshing  to  contem- 
plate such  a  character  as  Thomas  Hoyne's.  It  is  good  to- 
think  about  it.  It  is  good  for  us  here  to  talk  about  it.  It 
is  good  for  us  to  remember  it.  It  is  a  lesson  that  many 
men  who  may  esteem  themselves  wise  in  this  world  might 
profit  by. 

He  was  not  a  plumed  knight,  because  he  disdained  the 
pomp  and  pageantry  of  show.  What  he  loved  of  knight- 
hood was  its  cause — its  cause!  He  cared  nothing  about 
the  show,  he  cared  nothing  about  the  plaudits,  but  when 
he  saw  the  cause,  when  there  were  wrong-doers,  wher> 
an  injury  was  about  to  be  inflicted  upon  his  country  or 
his  cit}',  or  individuals  or  persons,  whether  it  came  from 
a  titled  tyrant  or  a  legalized  monopoly,  Thomas  Hoyne, 
as  a  true  knight,  despising  the  tinsel  of  show,  but  seizing 
the    weapons    of    warfare,    the  battle-ax,  the  spear,  the 


74 


shield  and  the  sword,  like  Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart,  he 
was  ever  where  the  fight  was  the  fiercest,  dealing  stun- 
ning blows  right  and  left,  thick  and  heavy,  upon  the 
i-nemy.  Ah!  he  was  a  true  man!  and  there  are  very  few 
iA  them.  There  are  so  few  that  we  cannot  afford  to  lose 
them,  and  when  we  do  lose  them  we  should  come  and 
mingle  our  tears  at  the  loss,  and  deplore  that  there  are  so 
few  left  of  such  men. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  thing  in  this  day,  when  we  find 
men  who  are  always  ready  to  defend  the  right,  regard- 
less of  consequences.  He  would  not  go  in  a  political 
convention  and  see  a  bad  man  nominated  because  it  would 
be  for  the  partA's  benefit  to  have  him  on  the  ticket.  He 
would  denounce  that  man.  He  would  denounce  him  so 
that  the  people  would  drop  him.  Everything  with  him 
was  for  principle,  nothing  for  show,  and  I  say  we  want 
a  great  many  such  men  now.  His  whole  career  from  the 
very  day  that  I  met  him — and  what  a  splendid,  magnifi- 
cent man  he  was — the  very  impersonation  of  manly  man- 
hood, and  the  very  first  day  that  I  saw  him,  up  to  a  few 
days  before  he  left,  when  I  conversed  with  him  on  the 
street,  he  was  ever  the  bold  champion  of  the  people's 
rights,  their  protector  and  their  defender  under  all  circum- 
stances, whether  it  was  popular  or  unpopular! 

Now,  such  a  man  is  a  great  loss;  not  only  a  loss  to 
this  club,  and  a  loss  to  the  count}',  and  a  loss  to  the  city, 
but  a  loss  to  the  great  north-west.  He  did  not  care  any- 
thing about  political  office.  He  cared  nothing  about  it. 
If  he  thought  that  he  could  serve  the  people,  if  he  thought 
he  could  serve  the  interests  of  Chicago,  and  it  was  for 
them  and  not  for  himself,  he  might  take  an'office,  but  it 
was  an  office  that  was  thrust  upon  him.  He  never  sought 
it:  he  did  not  want  it;  he  would  not  have  it.     And  why? 


Because  he  wished  to  be  in  an  independent  position, 
where  he  could  defend  the  people's  rights,  and  where  he 
would  not  have  to  look  behind  him  to  see  what  this  or 
that  man  was  saying  about  him.  He  cared  nothing  for 
what  was  said.  He  may  have  done  wrong,  he  may  have 
made  mistakes,  but  he  always  intended  and  aimed  to  do 
w^at  was  right.  -.  _  .     C.. 

Now,  we  should  indeed  mourn  the  loss  of  such  a  man. 
O  sir,  let  the  sod  rest  lightly  upon  his  manly  form!  Let 
the  summer  flowers  bloom  and  shed  their  fragrance  on 
his  grave!  Let  the  falling  leaves  of  Autumn  sigh  a  re- 
quiem! Let  the  vernal  showers  weep  over  his  grave, 
and  when  seasons  come  and  go,  and  go  and  come^  let 
them  point  to  the  hallowed  spot  where  rest  the  remain.s 
of  a  man — 

— "  take  him  for  all  in  all,  •         ♦".", 

We  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again."  ,  -.:    ■ 


Judge  H.  M.  Shepard.  •    .  - 

Mr.  Chairman:  I  shall  not  detain  the  club  very  long, 
and  I  should  say  nothing  except  for  what  Colonel  Shirley 
has  said,  that  it  is  good  for  us  to  talk  about  such  a  man. 

It  is  pleasing  always  to  speak  of  the  good  qualities  of 
others.  It  is  not  often  we  have  an  occasion  such  as  we 
have  here  to-night,  to  speak  of  the  memory  of  a  man  so 
great,  so  truly  great  as  Mr.  Hoyne  was.  I  do  not  esteem 
it  essential  at  all,  that  a  man  shall  hold  lofty  public  posi- 
tion to  be  great,  or  considered  great,  although  in  daijy 
_  j)arlance  we  only  speak  of  men  as  great  who  fill  exalted 
stations. .  We  forget  that  in  private  life  a  station  as  exalted 
as  that  of  Mr.  Hoyne  bears  fruit  much  richer  than  that 
which  comes  perhaps  from  public  trusts. 


76 

It  is  not  appearances,  not  so  much  what  men  do,  as  it 
is  the  results  produced  from  their  doings,  that  consti- 
tute greatness;  and  measured  by  such  a  test  Mr.  Hoyne 
stands  high  in  the  ranks.  Resistless  in  energy,  he  was 
typical  of  this  city,  which  he  loved  so  zealously,  and  whose 
broad  foundations  he  so  materially  helped  to  lay.  That 
broad-minded,  far-sighted,  courageous  set  of  men  who,  in 
a  single  generation,  created  this  great  city,  included  no 
man  of  clearer  purpose,  higher  resolve,  or  more  deter- 
mined action,  than  Thomas  Hoyne,  and  the  results  of 
their  labors  will  outlast  the  deeds  of  many  who,  accord-  i 
ing  to  the  maxims  of  the  world,  are  styled  great. 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  have  not  heard  mentioned 
about  Mr.  Iloyne  to-night  that  I  think  should  not  be 
passed  over  even  by  this  club,  although  there  has  been 
so  much  said  in  his  praise,  and  that  is  the  versatility  of 
the  man.  lie  seemed  to  know  something  about  almost 
everything.  He  was  a  student^  and  although  his  educa- 
tion was  so  limited  in  early  years,  by  persistent  applica- 
tion he  had  learned  more  than  most  men  know,  even  of 
books;  and  of  all  things  he  knew  far  more  than  not  only 
the  average  man,  but  far  more  than  many  men  who  make 
professions  of  great  knowledge. 

Speaking  of  him  politically,  and  perhaps  that  is  what 
this  club  would  naturally  address  itself  to  more  than  to 
any  other  pha.se  or  part  of  his  character — for  there  will 
be  scientific  associations  that  will  speak  of  him  in  his 
capacity  as  a  patron  of  the  sciences — there  will  be  insti- 
tutions of  learning  that  will  pass  resolutions  commending 
his  endeavors  to  advance  learning,  and  there  will  be 
meetings  of  his  professional  brethren,  where  encomiums 
will  be  passed  upon  his  career  as  a  member  of  the  bar, 
but  this  club,  as    was   said   by  th&  gentleman   who  first 


f-. 


[■■. 


77 

spoke  this  evening,  this  club,  perhaps,  is  the  place  to 
speak  of  him  politically,  and  a  great  deal,  has  been  said 
about  his  honesty  in  politics,  in  all  of  which  I  concur.    ,  . 

That  honesty  went  through  all  his  life,  in  ever3-thing 
that  he  did.  So  far  as  I  have  ever  seen  or  heard,  he 
was  remarkable  in  that  respect,  and  the  impression  made 
upon  me  at  his  funeral  was  one  of  the  universal  love  felt 
for  the  man  here  among  all  classes  of  people. 

I  never  saw  at  a  funeral  of  anybody,  unless  it  was 
some  funeral  where  crowds  were  attracted  by  display — I 
never  was  at  a  funeral  in  my  life  where  there  seemed  to 
be  all  grades  and  classes  of  society  represented  as  there 
was  at  his.  St.  Mary's  Church  was  filled  with  the  richest 
and  the  humblest  of  Chicago's  citizens.  There  were  serv- 
ant girls  there,  and  laboring  men  there,  millionaires  Were 
there,  judges  were  there,  and  all  classes^  of  men  came 
there  upon  the  shortest  notice.  And  why  did  they  come.- 
It  was  a  question  that  presented  itself  to  me  at  the  time, 
and  I  could  not  help  but  think  they  came  because  his 
career  was  such,  and  his  friendliness  for  all  classes  of 
humanit}',  so  to  speak,  was  so  great,  that  they  could  not 
help  coming.  It  was  a  little  tribute  they  wanted  to  pay, 
and  they  had  come  from  all  parts  of  the  city  to  do  it.  He 
liked  the  people  perhaps  better  than  the}'  knew,  although 
he  seemed  always  to  be  reserved  and  a  little  beyond  ap- 
proach, and  the  people  alwaj-s  loved  him  because  I  think 
the}'  had  such  great  confidence  in  him. 

He  believed  the  people  were  the  proper  source  of  curb- 
ing wrong.  He  believed,  so  to  speak,  in  that  paternalism 
in  government  where  the  paternity  rested  in  the  people. 
He  believed  that  the  source  of  power  went  from  the  peo- 
ple to  the  government,  and  not  from  the  government  to 
the  people.    He  believed  that  in  order  to  make  this  nation 


78 

great  it  was  better  to  have  the  people  strong  than  to  have 
a  strong  government.  That  was  the  principle  that  I  have 
no  doubt  actuated  him.  In  all  that  he  did  and  in  all 
public  measures  he  wanted  the  people  to  be  the  source  of 
strength.  He  believed  in  that  thoroughly,  and  in  that 
way  was  a  bright  example,  and  we  should  keep  that 
thing  in  mind,  I  think,  when  we  see  so  many  looking  to 
the  government  for  protection  and  not  to  the  people. 

I  had  not  made  any  sort  of  preparation  to  make  any 
remarks  here,  and  I  had  no  expectation  of  doing  so.  I 
was  only  led  to  do  so  because  of  Colonel  Shirley's  saying 
it  is  good  to  talk  about  such  a  character. 


Mr.  A,  F.  Seeberger,  in  response  to  the  call  of  the 
president,  declined  extended  remarks,  but  expressed  the 
fullest  concurrence  with  the  expressions  of  the  meeting, 
and  in  few  words  paid  a  feeling  and  appreciative  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  the  deceased. 

A  letter  was  also  received  from  Mr.  L.  Z.  Leiter,  re- 
gretting his  necessary  absence  and  ex'pressing  his  high 
regard  for  the  character,  and  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  Mr. 
Hoyne. 


Ithicago  Historical  Society. 


The  Historical  Society,  at  its  next  meeting  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
memorial.  Owing  to  the  ill-health  of  the  chairman  of  the 
committee,  the  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  the  report  was 
delayed  until  the  meeting  of  the  society  in  October,  1884, 


when  an  extended  biographical  sketch  and  tribute  to  the 
character  and  public  services  of  Mr.  Hoyne  was  reported 
by  Mr.  Wentworth  and  accepted  by  the  society.  As  the 
memorial  has  already  been  published  by  the  Historical 
Society,  it  is  not  repeated  here,  but  the  following  extract 
indicates  the  societj-'s  appreciation  of  Mr.  Ho3-ne,  and  re- 
flects some  phases  of  his  character  and  public  services 
not  so  fully  presented  elsewhere:     ■■  ...... 

Whereas,  During  the  vacation  of  this  society,  on  the  night  of 
the  27th  of  July,  1883,  by  an  accident  upon  the  Rome,  Water- 
town  and  Ogdensburg  railroad,  near  Carlyon,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  Chicago  lost  one  of  its  oldest  and  most  valuable  citizens, 
the  cause  of  Chicago's  early  history  one  of  its  most  ardent  de- 
votees, and  this  society  one  of  its  most  active  members,  it 'is 
responsive  to  the  sentiments  of  his  colleagues  in  this  body  that 
the  following  expression  should  be  placed  upon  its  record. 

Thomas  Hoyne  was  born  in  New  York  City,  February  11, 
181 7.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  an  orphan  without  means. 
He  arrived  at  Chicago  September  i,  1837.  In  the  autumn  of 
1838  he  was  a  school  teacher  near  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Canal 
streets,  and  the  district  committee-men  who  employed  him, 
Asahel  Pierce,  Francis  H.  Taylor  and  Anson  S.  Sherman,  still 
live,  as  well  as  the  school  inspector,  John  Wentworth,  who  first 
met  him  there.  Chicago's  highly  respected  old  citizen,  and  for 
a  long  time  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Alderman,  Calvin  DeWolf, 
was  his  predecessor  in  the  school.  Previous  to  him  was  C.  S. 
Bailey.  He  early  distinguished  himself  as  an  organizer  of 
lyceums  and  as  a  participant  in  the  debates  therein.  In  1840  he 
was  elected  City  Clerk.  During  this  year  (September  1 7)  he  mar- 
ried, when  he  was  at  the  age  of  23,  Leonora,  the  daughter  of  Dr. 
John  T.  Temple,  one  of  our  oldest  and  most  respected  citizens. 
In  1847  he  was  Judge  of  Probate,  United  States  District  Attor- 
ney in  1853,  United  States  Marshal  in  1859,  and  ad  interim  and 
de  facto  Mayor,  elected  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  during  the, 
timeof  our  city's  greatest  emergency,  in  1876. 

During  a  residence  of  over  forty  years  he  was  an  active,  use- 


8o 

fill  and  exemplary  citizen,  always  fearlessly  outspoken  in  the 
cause  of  economy,  honesty,  liberty  and  progress.  Honest 
money,  equivalent  to  its  fiice  in  gold,  never  had  a  more  devoted 
champion  than  Thomas  Hoyne.  His  word  was  as  good  as  his 
note,  and  he  never  sought  or  used  a  charter  to  cloak  his  in- 
dividual dishonor.  He  ever  rejected  the  doctrine  that  a  man 
should  not  be  held  responsible  in  this  world  or  in  the  next  for 
his  acts  inside  of  a  corporation,  always  regarding  his  corporate 
honor  as  sacred  as  his  personal.  He  could  never  understand  how 
one  and  the  same  person  could  be  a  saint  in  his  individual 
capacity  and  a  demon  in  his  corporate  capacity.  He  was  an  ac- 
tive member  of  the  Union  Defense  Committee  during  the  war, 
ami  of  tlie  Municipal  Reform  Qlub  after  it  closed.  He  was  one 
of  the  earliest  protestants  against  the  encroachments  of  the  slave 
power  upon  our  free  territories. 

As  an  early  and  ardent  advocate  of  our  park  system  there  may 
be  those  who  may  contest  priority  with  him.  But  to  him  belongs 
the  undis[)uted  credit  of  originating  the  idea  of  a  continuous 
line  of  boulevards  around  our  city.  |    • 

As  a  preventer  of  corporate  encroachments  upon  individual 
rights,  Chicago  has  not  had  an  abler  inan  than  Thomas  Hoyne. 
He  was  always  a  man  for  an  emergency,  abounding  in  moral 
courage  and  having  jniblic  confidence  at  his  back.  The  people 
could  ever  trust  Thomas  Hoyne,  and  he  never  abused  this  trust. 
He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Chicago  Bar,  and  no  man  was 
more  highly  respected  by  the  judiciary  or  his  professional 
brethren. 

His  personal  activity  and  strength  of  mind  increased  with  age, 
and  he  has  left  to  his  seven  children  (of  every  one  of  whom  any 
jjarent  could  be  proud)  a  rich  legacy  in  his  doctrine,  illustrated 
by  his  example,  that  personal,  professional,  corporate,  religious, 
financial  and  political  honor  is  identical  and  inseparable.  As  an 
impromptu  orator  to  miscellaneous  crowds  suddenly  met  in  pub- 
lic places,  Chicago  has  had  no  equal  to  Thomas  Hoyne,  and  no 
man  has  ever  lived  to  question  the  sincerity  of>his  motives  in  his 
unstudied  efforts  to  arouse  the  masses  to  a  sense  of  the  injustice 
inflicted  upon  them. 


8i       ' 

Thii  society,  recognizing  the  value  of  the  services  and  ex- 
ample of  such  an  early  and  long-tried  citizen  as  Thomas  Hoyne, 
does  hereby  as  token  of  deserved  and  heart-felt  respect, 

Resolve,  That  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and  testimonial  be 
entered  upon  its  records  and  a  copy  thereof  be  forwarded  to  his 
bereaved  family ;  and  furthermore,  that  a  portrait  of  him  be  re-, 
quested  of  them  to  be  hung  upon  the  walls  of  this  institution,  to 
remain  as  a  memorial  to  posterity  of  one  of  the  brightest  orna- 
ments of  Chicago's  early  history. 


Public  Library. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Chicago  Public  Library,  held  July  31,  1883,  the  following 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted: 

Whereas,  death  has  suddenly  removed  from  our  midst  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne,  who  was  president  of  the  board  of  direct- 
ors of  the  Chicago  Public  Library  during  all  its  early  years,  the 
present  board  of  directors  desire  to  record  their  high  apprecia- 
tion of  his  eminent  abilities,  his  great  worth  of  character,  and 
his  untiring  labors  for  the  public  good.  -  .,  - 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Hoyne  the  Public  Library 
has  lost  its  most  able  supporter,  to  whose  wisdom  and  adminis- 
trative ability  the  library  is  largely  indebted  for  its  successful  or- 
ganization and  permanent  prosperity. 

Resolved,  That  in  his  death  we  mourn  the  loss  of  a  large- 
souled,  philanthropic,  gifted  and  honored  citizen,  who. has  con- 
tributed in  a  very  marked  degree  to  the  growth  and  success  of 
our  institutions  of  learning  and  science  and  philanthropy,  and 


82 


the  influence  of  whose  noble  and  active  life  is  deeply  enstamped 
upon  the  heart  and  life  of  the  city  itself. 

Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  his  afflicted  family, 
and  will  attend  the  funeral  services  in  a  body.  \ 

«>t- 


Union  ttoUege  of  Lauj. 


At  a  calted  meeting,  June  14,  1883,  the  Union  College 
of  Law  took  the  following  action: 

Soon  after  our  last  annual  meeting,  our  esteemed  presi- 
dent was  suddenly  taken  from  us  by  one  of  those  frightful 
railroad  disasters,  which  too  frequently  desolate  our 
homes;  and  now,  not  simply  on  account  of  his  office  in 
this  board,  but  pre-eminently  on  account  of  his  great 
worth,  as  a  man,  and  the  value  of  his  services  for  many 
years  to  this  college  of  law,  we  feel  impelled  to  record  our 
high  estimate  of  him,  that  those  who,  in  future  years,  shall 
read  these  records,  may  know  how  true  and  how  great  a 
man  shaped  the  policy  of  this  school  during  the  first  years 
of  its  history.  ] 

Connected,  as  he  was,  almost  from  its  beginning,  vyith 
the  University  of  Chicago,  as  one  of  its  trustees,  he  was 
the  first  to  insist  that  a  department  of  law  should  be 
created,  and  when  his  purpose  was  realized  he  laid  the 
foundation  of  its  endowment  by  a  contribution  of  five 
thousand  dollars;  and  when,  with  characteristic  enterprise, 
the  Northwestern  University  determined  to  create  a  law 
department,  such  was  the  catholicity  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  that 


;$3^ 


he  at  once  proposed  that  the  University  of  Chicago  and 
the  Northwestern  University  should  unite  in  sustaining 
the  same  school  of  law,  and  thus  avoid  the  unnecfessarx^ 
multiplication  of  law  schools  in  our  city.  From  this  wise 
and  liberal  suggestion  there  sprung  our  Union  College  of 
Law,  of  whose  joint  board  of  management  Mr.  Hoyne 
was  for  so  many  years  president.       ,    .•  ,  ■•  ■   .•  ." 

As  to  his  characteristics,  as  a  man,  we  wish  to  make 
record  of  what  seems  to  us  to  be  the  universal  verdict;  he 
was  strictly  honest  and  frank,  often  to  his  own  personal 
detriment — one  of  those  sincere  souls  through  which  the 
sunlight  streams,  so  that  nothing  is  hidden.  He  held  his 
opinions  firmly  without  a  trace  of  bigotr}',  and  he  was 
liberal  without  extravagance.  He  was  thoroughl}'  devoted 
to  the  public  good,  and  nothing  seemed  to  stir  the  depths 
of  his  righteous  indignation  so  much  as  any  selfish 
measure  or  scheme  that  might  militate  against  the  wel- 
fare of  his  adopted  city.  Take  him  all  and  in  all,  he  was 
a  rare  man,  and  it  will  be  no  easy  task  to  fill  his  place. 
In  view  of  his  great  personal  worth  and  of  his  invaluable 
service  to  this  college  of  law,  be  it  ■;■   ,;:. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  in  humble  submission  to  the 
providence  of  God,  we  deplore  the  immeasurable  loss  to  this 
college  of  law  of  its  founder  and  most  enthusiastic  and  devoted 
benefactor. 

Hesoh'eii,  That  we  will  endeavor  by  our  liberality  of  senti- 
ment, and  by  our  devotion  and  zeal  to  imitate  our  departed 
brother,  and  to  supply,  so  far  as  we  are  able,  by  renewed  effort 
on  our  part,  the  service  of  which  we  have  been  deprived  by  his 
lamented  death. 

Rseolved,  That  a  copy  q£  this  statement  and  of  these  resolu- 
tions be  sent  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  with  whom  we  pro- 
foundly sympathize  in  their  great  sorrow,  and  to  both  of  our 
universities. 


Faculty  of  the  (Dollege  of  Lauj. 


The  faculty  of  the  College  of  Law  unanimously  adopted 
the  following  minute  prepared  by  Judge  Booth,  Dean  of 
the  faculty:  I 

The  faculty  of  the  Union  College  of  Law  desire  to  join  in 
the  universal  expression  of  grief  that  has  found  utterance  upon 
the  sudden  death  of  our  much  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  Thomas 
Hoyne,  to  bear  testimony  to  the  rare  excellence  of  his  character, 
and  to  convey  to  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  our  heartfelt 
sympathy  in  this  great  calamity. 

In  the  death  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  the  people  of  our  city  have  lost 
one  of  their  most  active  and  public-spirited  citizens,  a  leader  in 
every  worthy  enterprise,  a  man  of  unswerving  integrity,  of  whom 
it  can  be  said  with  peculiar  emphasis,  that : 

"  Even  his  failings  leaned  to  virtue's  side."  I 

As  the  founder  of  this  College  of  Law,  and  at  all  times  the 
constant  friend  and  supporter,  who  gave  his  money  freely  for  its 
endowment,  and  has  always  been  ready  to  contribute  his  time 
and  wise  counsel  in  its  behalf,  we  feel  that  a  debt  of  gratiude  is 
due  to  him  as  to  none  other,  and  we  shall  bear  his  noble  gener- 
osity and  zeal  in  the  promotion  of  legal  education  in  loving, 
grateful  and  lasting  remembrance. 


c^-- :•"-*' 
^■^-""■i: 


Umuersity  of  Ithicago. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
University  of  Chicago,  held  at  the  Grand  Pacific  hotel, 
at  three  o'clock  p.  m.,  Monday,  July  30,  1883,  the  Hon. 
James  R.  Doolittle  in  the  chair,  and  the  Rev.  Justin  A. 
Smith,  secretary,  the  president  of  the  university  stated 
that  he  had  called  the  meeting  to  take  appropriate  action 
in  relation  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hoyne,  one  of  the 
trustees,  and  had  requested  Mr.  J.  Young  Scammon,  an 
old  and  special  friend  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  to  prepare  a  paper 
to  be  submitted  to  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Scammon  then  presented  the  following  memorial 
and  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted: 

1.  The  sudden  removal  from  this  life  of  the  Honorable 
Thomas  Hoyne,  LL.  D.,  by  one  of  those  frightful  railroad  ca- 
lamities, which  alike  shock  our  sensibilities  and  demand  greater 
vigilance  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  the  transportation  or 
carriage  of  human  beings,  which  occurred  on  the  Rome,  Water- 
town  and  Ogdensburgh  railroad,  at  Carlyon,  New  York,  on  the 
night  of  the  27th  of  July,  A.  D.  1883,  demands  from  the  trus- 
tees of  the  University  of  Chicago  more  than  a  passing  tribute.     ■ 

2.  Mr.  Hoyne  has  occupied  so  large  a  space  in  the  public 
history  of  our  city  and  state,  in  official  positions  of  great  promi- 
nence and  responsibility,  that  it  may  be  becoming  to  us,  the 
representatives  of  a  purely  educational  institution,  to  confine 
this  memorial  to  him  as  a  member  of  this  board  and  as  a  patron 
of  the  university.     Nevertheless,  we  may  be  permitted  to  put 


86 


among  the  archives  of  our  seat   of  learning,  the   historical   fact 

"  that  besides  his  prominence  as  a  citizen  and  lawyer,  he  has  been 

clothed  with    both  judicial  and  magisterial  power  by  our  state, 

■  and  has  represented  the  national  government  both  as  its  ofificial 

counselor  and  attorney  and  its  judicial  executive  ofificer,  while 

we  especially  commemorate   his  relations  and  services  to  our 

institution  and  the  cause  of  liberal  education  in  this  great   cen- 

.  tral  portion  of  our  national  domain. 

Mr.  Hoyne  was,  at  the  time  of  his  lamented  death,  a  trustee 
of  this  institution,  and  a  life  director  of  the  Chicago  Astronomi- 
cal Society,  an  institution  intimately  connected  with  the  uni- 
versity, and  one  of  its  aids  in  scientific  instruction.  He  had 
been  connected  with  the  first  for  many  years,  and  was  at  one 
time  president  of  this  board.  He  made  the  first  endowment  to 
the  college  of  law  connected  with  this  institution,  and  was  one 
of  the  original  founders  and  officers  of  the  astronomical  society. 
He  has  been  the  professional  right  arm  of  this  board  as  its  re- 
liable counselor  and  the  most  faithful  and  reliable  friend  of  the 
institution,  and  sustainer  of  those  called  to  administer  its  affairs. 

Should  we  be  called  to  express  sententiously  our  estimate  of 
the  man,  we  should  say  :  In  the  christian  religion  he  had  faith 
and  undoubted  trust,  mingled  with  the  broadest  charity  and 
universal  toleration  and  respect  for  differences  of  views. 

As  a  politician  he  was  bold,  courageous,  ever  sympathizing 
with  freedom  and  the  down  trodden  or  op])ressed,  without  agra- 
rian violence  or  disregard  of  established  rights,  though  always 
enthusiastic  for  the  just  and  right. 

As  a  cifizen,  honestly  faithful,  conscientious  and  incor- 
ruptible. I 

As  a  man  he  possessed  that  fidelity  to  friendships  which  could 
not  be  shaken,  and  that  noble  courage  which  is  the  highest  of 
virtues  without  tincture  of  that  cowardly  weakness  which  is 
always  nearly  allied  to  the  meanest  of  vices. 

As  a  man  he  has  filled  the  measure  of  his  earthly  life  with  use- 
fulness and  honor. 

We  treasure  his  memory  and  sympathize  with  his  noble  widow 
and  family  in  their  great  afiliction,  while  we  mourn   our  separa- 


87 

tion  even  from  an  associate  of  whom  we  can  truthfully  say,  well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant.       ,.•.?.■,.■.  .      1' 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  memorial  be  entered  upon  the 
records  of  this  board  and  a  copy  thereof  be  sent  to  the  widow 
and  family  of  our  lamented  associate.  1 

Resolved,  That  members  of  this  board  and  other  officers  of 
this  institution  be  requested  to  be  present  at  the  funeral  of  our 
late  associate. 


Astronomical  Society. 


The  following  was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago 
Astronomical  Society,  held  July  30,  1883,  at  the  Dear- 
born Observatory: 

"Thomas  Hoyne,  LL.  D.,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
society,  its  first  secretary,  and  a  life  director  thereof.  In  the 
organization  and  early  history  of  our  association  his  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  were  manifest  on  all  proper  occasions.  He  visited 
Cambridge,  Massachussetts,  and  secured  the  purchase  of  our 
great  Equatorial,  and  was  indefatigable  in  promoting  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  observatory.  In  so  doing  he  illustrated  a  great 
trait  of  his  character — a  love  of  aiding  the  establishment  of  in- 
stitutions to  promote  science  and  learning,  and  for  the  public 
weal. 

"  In  his  sudden  removal  from  our  midst,  by  a  deplorable 
accident,  we  are  compelled  to  mourn  the  death  of  a  public  spir- 
ited citizen,  of  acknowledged  and  renowned  worth."  .  ;     - 


Hahnemann  31Fle5ical  (tollege 

Adopted  the  following  resolutions: 

Whereas,  A  peculiarly  painful  calamity  has  taken  from  us 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne,  who  for  twenty-eight  years  has  been 
an  active  and  efficient  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Hahne- 
mann medical  college  and  hospital ;  and 

Whereas,  Its  success  and  growth  are  largely  due  to  his  labors 
and  influence ; 

Therefore,  The  faculty  of  this  college  desires  to  place  upon 
record  its  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory  and  its  appreciation 
of  his  constant  fidelity  to  this  as  one  of  the  oldest  charitable  and 
educational  institutions  of  this  city,  and  also  to  tender  its  sym- 
pathy to  the  bereaved  family,  and  especially  to  our  colleague. 
Prof.  Temple  S.  Hoyne. 


•i* 


* 


(Dalumet  (Dlub. 


The  old  settlers'  committee  of  the  Calumet  club,  at  a 
meeting  held  July  30,  1S83,  adopted  the  following  reso- 
lutions: '  I 

The  old  settlers'  committee  of  the  Calumet  club  are  reminded 
of  the  uncertainty  of  life  by  the  sudden  death  of  one  of  its 'most 
honored  members,  the  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne,  who  was  so  sud- 
denly killed  by  a  railway  collision  on  the  Rome,  Watertown  and 
Ogdcnsburgh  railway  on  the  night  of  July  27,  1883.  All  who 
knew  him  mourn  deeply  his  loss,  but  none  mourn  it  more  deeply 


■      89  ^-  ■/•:.;.;:■:.-.. 

and  sincerely  than  those  who  have  known  him  longest  and  best' 
— the  old  settlers  of  Chicago.  On  behalf  of  the  old  settlers  of 
,  Chicago,  we,  the  sorrowing  members  of  the  old  settlers'  commit- 
tee of  the  Calumet  club,  unanimously 

Resolve,  i.  That  in  the  early  struggles  of  our  cherished  city 
none  rendered  it  more  ready  assistance  with  a  brighter  intellect 
than  our  deeply  lamented  companion  and  friend,  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Hoyne. 

2.  From  1837  to  the  present  time  he  has  always  been  first  and 
forenlost  in  measures  tending  to  promote  the  city's  well  being, 
either  material,  educational  or  religious,  ever  ready  to  respond 
to  the  public  call  when  danger  threatened. 

3.  As  a  citizen,  neighbor  and  friend,  all  who  knew  him  re- 
spected and  honored  him,  and  nearly  all  loved  him.  He  was 
able,  genial,  generous  and  kind.  All  will  miss  him.  All  will 
mourn  deeply  his  sudden  death. 

4.  That  this  committee  attend  his  funeral  in  a  body  in  behalf 
of  the  old  settlers  of  Chicago. 

5.  That  this  committee  extend  their  heartfelt  and  deepest 
sympathy  to  the  bereaved  widow  and  family  of  the  departed,  and 
that  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  them  and  a  copy  be  furnished  to 
the  secretary  of  the  Calumet  club  to  be  spread  upon  the  records 
of  the  club. 


Professor  Sujing. 


[In  the  Weekly  Magazin-e.] 


Eight  days  upon  the  Servia  with  I'homas  Hoyne  as  a 
room-mate  were,  as  it  now  proves,  a  group  of  good-by 
days  for  him  and  me.  He  was  soon  to  cross  over  quite 
another  flood  and  leave  behind  a  rich  memory  of  acts  and 


!  9° 

words  of  kindness.  Rooming  together  for  a  week  upon 
the  ocean  might  make  men  further  away  in  heart  from 
each  other,  for  such  nearness  might  disclose  imperfections 
of  character  which  would  have  remained  concealed  in  the 
common  intercourse  of  the  street  or  of  social  life;  but 
when  minds  are  congenial  and  need  only  the  time  and  the 
opportunity  for  growing  friendship's  harvest,  then  to  room 
together  upon  a  grand  steamship  is  to  kindle  a  spark  into 
a  flame,  and  to  turn  acquaintances  into  brothers.  Think- 
ing over  such  days  my  heart  is  full  of  the  feeling  that  the 
railway  calamity  of  Friday  night  removed  from  life  a 
great,  good,  glorious  soul  when  it  crushed  to  death 
Thomas  Ilovne.  He  was  a  true  child  of  this  world.  His 
affections  were  most  powerful  as  toward  his  family,  and 
wife  and  daughters  were  as  accustomed  to  kind  words  as 
to  daily  sunlight  or  daily  air.  There  were  no  moods,  no 
wiiims,  no  paternal  greatness  or  dignity,  no  assumption  of 
a  domestic  scepter  and  crown;  the  flow  of  kindness  and 
solicitude  was  deep  and  uniform.  The  sentiment  of  many 
public  men  is  weakest  at  home,  and  leaving  that  garden 
to  the  weeds  it  begins  to  show  life  when  outside  the  four 
walls  of  the  private  castle.  Other  public  men  reveal  no- 
where any  great  amount  of  sentiment,  but  this  poor  vic- 
tim of  last  week  loved  this  world  and  all  its  contents,  and 
making  home  a  starting  point  he  gave  his  love  to  man 
and  fields  and  hills  and  sky  and  ocean.  In  common  daily 
life  he  seemed  onl}-  a  citizen  of  a  large  metropolis  or  he 
seemed  only  a  lawyer  or  only  a  true,  broad  democrat,  but 
besides  being  all  of  these,  he  was  a  human  being,  and  like 
the  ideal  of  Terrence,  "  Nothing  that  was  human  was 
foreign  to  him." 

The  isolation  of  a  ship  is  wonderful.     The  world  seems 
to  have  gone  from  you  or  j-ou  from  it.     The  ocean  as- 


sumes  the  proportions  of  immensit}-.  You  do  not  wonder 
that  the  companions  of  Columbus  grew  impatient  and 
asked  permission  to  turn  around  and  go  back.  The  da3-s 
seem  twice  their  usual  length.  Instead  of  being  in  a 
hurr\-  when  you  meet  a  friend  on  deck  or  in  the  great 
dining-room,  you  each  seem  to  have  an  eternit\'  on  hand 
of  which  you  would  love  to  make  some  fair,  honorable 
use.  The  temptation  is  therefore  not  to  sum  up  the 
history  of  the  world  in  a  sentence,  nor  to  plead  that  you 
cannot  stop  just  then  to  talk  or  to  listen,  that  you  have  an 
engagement  up  town  or  down  town  at  two  or  four  or  six 
o'clock.  For  once  in  life  one  has  time  for  all  forms  of 
talk  upon  all  forms  of  subjects,  and  thus  talk  becomes  a 
luxury.  To  be  imprisoned  nine  days  with  intelligent  and 
lovable  people,  to  have  the  sea  on  hand  all  the  while  b}- 
day  and  b\'  night,  to  be  a  mystery  and  a  music  of  the 
spirit's  temple,  is  a  situation  that  calls  up  the  long  hidden 
thoughts  of  many  who  thus  slovvl}'  sail  from  shore  to  shore. 
This  warm-hearted  Iloyne  was  equal  to  such  times  of 
isolation.  His  sixty  years  had  been  well  spent.  Labor, 
poverty,  study,  exercise,  success,  wisdom,  had  all  com- 
bined in  the  magical  shop  of  life  and  had  formed  a  man. 
The  vivacity  and  feeling  of  bojhood  were  never  absent 
for  an  hour.  The  heart  paid  no  heed  to  the  gra}'' hairs. 
He  would  walk  the  length  of  the  ship  to  tell  his  room- 
mate that  some  porpoises  were  pla3'ing  or  some  steamer 
was  on  the  horizon;  and  the  room-mate  saw  nothing  new 
or  strange  or  common  without  feeling  that  Tom  Hoyne 
must  be  informed  and  dulj'  summoned  to  the  deck.  When 
about  eight  days  out  we  took  to  our  beds  quite  certain 
that  we  should  see  the  coast  of  Ireland  at  daybreak.  At 
about  three  a.  m.  I  could  see  from  the  \vindow  far  off  dark 
outlines  which  seemed  nothing  else  than  the  shores  of  the 


92 


older  world.  I  called  the  good  sleeper  and  asked  him  if 
we  were  not  nearing  Ireland  at  last?  He  soon  settled  the 
question  and  pointed  out  a  coast-light  and  the  twin  peaks 
called  "The  Cow  and  Calf."  Our  journey  was  almost 
over.     The  sea  had  been  crossed.  [ 

Death  invites  to  a  discussion  of  religion — that  perplex- 
ing philosophy  of  the  bej'ond.  Upon  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  late  at  night  we  watched  for  a  long  time  a  lunar 
rainbow.  It  was  an  arch  on  the  horizon,  upon  a  cloud, 
the  moon  being  behind  us.  It  was  a  white  bow,  dim,  but 
manifest  and  beautiful.  We  watched  it  long,  for  we  had 
nothing  better  io  do  than  watch  and  watch  and  wait.  We 
counted  as  lost  all  the  hours  in  bed.  From  lunar  rainbows 
we  passed  to  the  general  topic  of  the  sky,  and  then  to 
what  might  be  beyond  the  mortal  ken.  Mr.  Hoyne  had 
passed  from  Romanism  and  even  from  Protestantism  to 
that  faith  which  is  greater  than  either  or  both.  The 
blessed  religious  sentiment  flashed  up  more  distinctly  than 
the  lunar  rainbow  and  more  richly  colored;  but  the  senti- 
ment was  not  to  be  all  expressed  in  words.  It  was  above 
words,  like  the  heavens  we  had  studied—  deeper  than 
eloquence,  like  the  sea  under  us.  The  talk  of  the  hour 
left  me  all  full  in  heart  of  the  conviction  that  the  souls  of 
such  men  as  my  room-mate  are  all  journej'ing  toward  an 
empire  greater  than  England,  and  shall  land  one  by  one 
upon  a  sublime  sliore.  Loving  this  world,  indeed  they 
seem  conscious  of  being  borne  toward  another  which  also 
they  will  love  when  the}'  shall  have  passed  within  its  gales. 

.     »  "The  only  avenue  of  bliss  we  have 

Is  bv  the  calmer  by-ways  of  our  lives, 
111  service  oC  our  duties  traveled  well 
With  steady  toot  of  kindly  household  faith. 
The  ea<^le  could  not  poise  his  \\  ings  on  air 
Without  an  eve  on  earth  to  sleadv  them." 


A  rapidly  flying  train  with  engines  toiling  hard  to 
transfer  a  group  of  mortals  from  the  grandeur  of  Niagara 
to  the  beaut}'  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  reaching  out  and 
onward,  mile  after  mile,  as  a  great  projectile  hurled  at 
some  mark  two  hundred  miles  away.  A  crash!  a  heap 
of  timbers  and  men  and  iron  and  women,  and  then  screams 
and  groans.  Thomas  Hojne  is  among  the  dead.  He  is 
lamented  outside  of  the  stricken  home.  A  heart  that 
loved  all  good  has  looked  upon  its  home  and  loved  ones 
and  friends  for  the  last  time.  He  has  crossed  the  more 
mysterious  sea.  .  . 


Letters. 


August  2j  18S3.     . 
My  dear  Mrs.  Hoyne:  ««• 

Leaving  Chicago  so  suddenly  I  did   not  see  you  again. 

How  terrible  a  blow  to  you  was  the  loss  of  such  a  man 
I  can  well  appreciate. 

As  for  myself  I  simply  felt  wretched. 

I  could  not  return  to  the  springs,  and  am,  as  3-ou  see, 
home. 

None  knew  him  better  than  L  None  knew  better  how 
great  and  noble  he  was.  .  •  ,    ■ 

During  an  intimacy  of  nearly  fifty  years,  I  never  knew 
him  to  be  guilty  of  a  mean  action  or  to  harbor  an  ungen- 
erous thought. 

Of  a  wonderfully  open  and  candid  nature  himself,  he 
never  looked  for  dissimulation  in  others.  . , 


94 

For  an  action  founded  on  honest  but  mistaken  motives 
lie  was  full  of  charit)',  but  to  one  springing  from  "motives 
of  dishonesty  or  self-interest  he  was  an  uncompromising 
foe. 

Mis  own  honorable  nature  detested  the  shifts  and  tricks 
b)-  which  men  strive  to  attain  position  at  the  cost  of  their 
honor  and  integrity. 

I  never  saw  a  man  so  intensely  imbued  with  a  love  for 
his  adopted  city.  Growing  up  in  her  midst,  seeing  her 
rise  from  an  obscure  village  to  the  Queen  City  of  the 
West  he  felt  an  almost  paternal  interest  in  her  welfare. 

lie  had  indeed  the  true  ideas  of  a  citizen — his  duties 
did  not  end  with  simply  casting  his  ballot;  he  watched 
with  jealous  eye  to  see  that  those  principles  of  honor  and 
probity  which  influenced  his  own  career,  were  active 
agents  in  the  administration  of  public  trusts.  It  was  no 
merely  selfish  motives,  no  mere  desire  for  notoriety  that 
urged  him  on,  but  an  innate  love  of  honesty  and  right,  a 
jealous  care  for  the  welfare  of  the  city  of  his  adoption,    i 

Of  his  kindness  as  a  husband  and  a  father  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  speak;  you  know  it  so  much  better  than  I. 

You  were  the  subject  of  frequent  conversations  be- 
tween us.  I 

Of  his  love  for  you,  and  his  tender  solicitude  for  your 
welfare,  I  can  well  bear  testimony.  Be  sure  he  did  not 
underrate  your  love  and  affectionate  regard. 

He  placed  the  utmost  confidence  in  your  judgment  and 
care  of  the  family. 

Indeed,  I  may  say,  he  realized  the  fact  that  no  small 
part  of  his  own  success  as  a  man  was  attributable  to  the 
fact  that  he  possessed  that  greatest  of  all  earthly  boons — 
a  good  wife  and  mother  to  his  children.  | 

I  know  that   in    the    weight   of  so  terrible  a  calamity 


words  seem  almost  idle,  but  if  honesty  and  integrity  meet 
a  reward — if  the  just  men  in  this  life  are  rewarded  in  the 
next — I  know  of  none  more  deserving  than  Thoinas 
Hoyne.  ^ 

His  life  was  but  the  shadow  of  the  soul  that  lay  be- 
neath, and  a  purer,  better  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all,  I 
never  knew. 

Appreciating  your  irreparable  loss,  and  extending  my 
heartfelt  sympathies  in  j-our  deep  affliction, 

Believe  me  your  friend,  , 

Moses  B.  Maclay. 

Mrs.  Hoyne.  ■.'■'■    '    \; "    '.  -■ 


Madison,  Wisconsin,  July  29,  1883. 
My  Dear  Madam:  How  can  I  find  words  to  express 
the  horror,  the  grief,  the  distressful  sympathy,  which  the 
dreadful  news  I  receive  from  the  morning  paper  has  filled 
all  our  hearts  with!  Heaven  help  you  now,  with  all- the 
power  of  Divine  Love!  It  is  impossible  to  realize  the 
lamentable  and  harrowing  truth  that  our  venerable  and 
splendid  friend,  in  whom  we  had  such  pride  and  pleasure, 
has  suffered  so  agonizing  and  sorrowful  an  end.  No 
event,  since  my  own  father's  death,  has  so  moved  me  to 
sorrow.  And  how  heavy  and  insupportable  the  afflicting 
calamity  falls  upon  you,  and  upon  your  happy  and  de- 
lightful family  circle,  I  can  hardly  bear  to  think  of.  How 
and  where,  on  earth,  can  j'ou  find  consolation?  There  is 
but  one  great  spring,  and  for  his  loss  more  than  for  most 
men  it  is  a  fountain  of  gratifying  thought;  he  has  lived  a 
life  of  such  good  works  that  they  remain  a  monument  of 
remembrance  and  praise.  In  the  hearts  of  thousands  who 
admired,  respected,  nay,  venerated  him,  many  of  whom 


96 


like  myself  loved  him,  the  swelling  testimony  of  his 
worth  and  excellence  bursts  to-day.  His  state  and  his 
city  mourn  him  as  the  fearless  and  honest  man  whose 
wisdom  was  always  at  their  true  service.  But  for  you, 
turn  to  the  supporting  hearts  of  your  splendid  sons,  your 
loving  daughters.  They  will  help  you  now  as  no  other 
human  power  could.  Never  was  man  happier  in  such 
possessions  than  he,  never  mother  could  rejoice  with  more 
confidence  and  pride  than  3'ou,  in  these  highest  rewards 
of  life.  Alas!  that  ever  such  ties  must  be  loosed,  that 
such  ba^s  must  be  broken.  Yet,  but  a  few  years  more, 
and  in  the  certain  course  of  Nature  the  feebleness  of  age 
must  have  subdued  that  magnificent  form  and  withered 
the  power  of  his  majestic  manhood.  It  lias  fallen  to  him 
to  go  before  his  natural  day,  yet  onl}'  after  a  long  life,  a 
long,  splendid  and  glorious  career  of  the  highest  type  and 
form.  Happy  that  he  was  spared  so  long,  to  do  so  much. 
And,  I  trust  that  we  shall  hear — what  1  dread  lest  we 
may  not— that  his  death  was  not  in  protracted  suffering, 
but  with  little  trial. 

But  I  may  not  too  much  intrude  upon  you.  Mrs. 
Vilas  wishes  her  tenderest  sympathy  expressed  for  you 
and  for  your  daughters.  We  can  hardly  endure  to  think 
of  our  sweet  Gertie,  whom  he  allowed  us  to  claim  in  part 
ownership.  Nellie  shares  her  grief,  as  we  all  do,  and 
laments  that  she  cannot  help  her  bear  the  sorrow.  It  is  a 
source  of  mournful  pride  and  gratification  to  us,  I  feel  it 
deeply,  that  we  were  honored  by  his  short  visit  here; 
tho'  it  greatly  adds  to  our  sense  of  loss.  I  never  saw  him 
appear  to  better  advantage,  nor  felt  a  warmer  pleasure  in 
his  friendship,  always  so  kind  and  cheering.  I  hoped  to 
have  many  times  again  had  him  for  my  honored  guest. 
Alas! 


We  trust  and  pray  you  may  be  sustained  in  your  heavy 
sorrow,  by  the  Hand  which  with  strength  unseen,  but 
only  surely  can  bring  relief.  Our  deepest  feeling  is  with 
you  and  your  family.  Would  that  it  were  possible  to 
help!  For  Mrs.  Vilas  and  mj'self  accept  our  affectionate 
sympathy  for  j'ou  and  yours,  and  permit  us  to  share  the 
sorrowful  burden  of  this  dispensation  in  some  feeble  de- 
gree. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly,  your  friend,  _ 

Wm.  F.  Vilas. 
Mrs.  Thomas  Hoync.  . 


Bridgeport,  Conn.,  July  31,  1883. 
Mrs.  Thos.  Hoyne,  No.  26 j  Michigan  Ave:        » 

I  am  inexpressl)'  grieved  in  hearing  at  this  moment 
of  the  shocking  death  of  your  beloved  husband.  Mr. 
Hoyne  and  myself  had  been  warm  friends  for  more  than 
forty  years,  and  his  death  comes  to  me  as  a  great  personal 
loss.  His  captivating  personal  qualities,  his  generous  dis- 
position, the  nobility  of  his  character,  bound  his  friends 
to  him  as  if  by  hooks  of  steel,  while  his  vehement  hon- 
esty, his  public  spirit  and  his  devotion  to  the  general  good 
will  forever  honor  his  name  and  memory. 

E.  B.  Washburne. 


Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  August  7,  1883. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Hoyne:    Ever  since  the  sad  news  of 
the  terrible  accident  to  your  beloved  husband  reached  me, 
I  have  been  trying  to  calm  my  lacerated  feelings  suffi- 
ciently to  write  you  in  such  a  succinct  manner  as  not  to 


98 


be  tedious  to  you.     But  it  is  hard  to  condense  tiie  emo- 

tions  that  naturally  arise  as  I  review  over  forty-five  years 

of  intimate  friendship  atid    mutual  confidence.     There  is 

now  no  one  left   with  whom  I  could  talk  so  understand- 

ingly   and   sympathetically  as  I  al\vaj-s  could    with   him. 

M}'   most   reliable   landmark   has  gone.       Whilst  I   most 

heartily  sympathize   wiih  you  and  your    family,    in  3'our 

affliction,  I  know  that  you  have  the  sympathy  not  onl^'  of 

myself,  but  of  all  who  knew  the  good  and  honored  husband 

and  father,  of  whose  services  you  have  been  so  suddenl}' 

bereft.      A  more  unselfish  and   iionest   man  never  walked 

the  streets  of  Chicago.  | 

I  will  stop  here,   although   I   would  like  to  dwell  more 

particularly  upon  his  many  traits  of  long-time  endearment 

to  me.     I  know  no  human  power  can   assuage  grief  like 

yours;  yet  consolation  can  be  found  in  the  fact  that,  whilst 

death  is  the  common  lot  of  ail,  God    alone  can  decide  the 

question  of  precedence.     It  is  not  for  mortals  to  say  win" 

or  when  one  shall  be  taken  whilst  others  are  permitted  to 

tarry  a  while  longer  on  the  inevitable  road  to  eternity. 

Yours  in  sympathy,  j 

John  Went  worth. 
Mrs.  Leonora  Temple  Hoyne. 


Chicago,  August  7,  1883. 
Mrs.  Thoimis  Hoyne. 

Dear  Madam:  My  relations  to  your  husband  for 
manj-  years  have  been  so  intimate,  and  my  high  esteem 
for  him  was  so  thoroughly  fixed  and  understood,  that  I 
hardly  need  assure  yourself  and  family  that  j'ou  have  the 
most  earnest  sympathy  of  myself  and  family  in  your  sud- 
den and  irreparable  bereavement. 


■  A  friend  of  j'ours  told  me  the  day  of  the  funeral  that 
this  is  the  first  time  death  has  entered  your  family.  If  so 
30U  have  been  most  exceptionall}-  fortunate.  Our  home 
has  not  been  so  favored,  but  our  e.xperiences  have  at  least 
taught  us  to  "  mourn  with  those  who  mourn,"  and  we  can 
more  fully  appreciate  the  great  sorrow  which  is  upon 
3'our  household.  -,'-;■ 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

H.  W.  Blodgett. 


Chicago,  Jul}'  30,  1883. 
AJrs.  Thomas.  Hoyriic,  26 J  Michigan  Ave.,  City.         ;  '.'. 

My  Dear  Mad^m:  "Worlds  are  inadequate,  when  we 
come  to  speak  of  such  grief  , as  I  know  now  weighs  down 
you  and  3'our  dear  family.  'J  can  only  tell  you  that  you 
have  the  sincerest  sympathy  of  all  in  my  house. 

There  has  left  us  a  true  and  devoted  husband  and 
father  and  friend.  The  city,  state  and  country  has  no 
more  true  and  valued  citizen  to  lose.  He  was  a  brave, 
manly  man,  that  had  the  courage  to  speak  the  truth  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  places.  I  feel  that  I  have  lost  a  personal 
friend,  whose  words  of  cheer  and  kindness  ofttimes  en- 
couraged me  when  in  the  path  of  duty.  He  was  a  true 
and  noble  lawyer,  who  advised  and  counseled  and  defended 
only  the  right.  Take  him  all  in  all,  we  may  never  see  his 
like  again.  He  was  true,  kind,  affectionate,  brave,  manl}', 
noble.  He  was  impulsive,  but  his  very  impulses  were  for 
truth  and  richt.  No  man  will  we  miss  more  in  the  walks 
of  life  in  our  city,  that  owes  so  much  to  him.  May  our 
Heavenly  Father  bless  and  sanctify  to  you  and  yours  this 
severest-t)f  bereavements. 

I  am  truly,  etc., 

Samuel  M.  Moore. 


lOO 


^ 


347  Dearborn  Ave.,  Thursday,  Aug.  2,  1883. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Hoyne:  While  I  am  aware  there 
are  no  words  which  friends  may  utter  that  can  in  the 
least  mitigate  the  overwhelming  grief  endured  by  you 
at  this  time,  yet  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  of  writing 
to  3'ou  to  sa}'  how  profoundl)'  Mrs.  Tree  and  myself 
sympathize  with  you  and  3'our  children  in  your  great 
bereavement.  It  having  been  my  good  fortune  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Ho^'ne  almost  immediately  after 
my  arrival  in  this  city,  mj'  knowledge  of  him  runs  over 
a  period  of  nearly  thirty  years,  and  I  can  say  with  all 
sincerity,  that  the  longer  I  knew  him  the  more  I  learned 
to  admire  him  and  appreciate  the  sterling  traits  of  his 
character.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  was  the  embodiment 
of  all  those  qualities  which  constitute  the  good  citizen. 
He  was  honest,  able,  public  spirited  and  fearless  in  his 
dealings  with  men  and  the  affairs  of  life,  while  his  hearty 
hospitality  and  the  sweetness  of  his  domestic  life  as  a 
husband  and  father,  as  it  appeared  to  his  friends,  made 
him  an  example  for  other  men  to  follow.  •         \ 

The  grief  of  the  whole  community  at  his  loss,  is  per- 
haps the  best  evidence  of  the  success  which  his  life  had 
been  as  a  citizen.  If  at  libert}'  to  speak  of  my  own 
sorrow  to  one  whose  sorrow  is  tenfold  what  all  others 
can  possibly  feel,  I  may  say  with  all  my  heart  that  I 
mourn,  not  only  that  this  community  has  been  deprived 
of  one  of  its  most  valuable  citizens,  but  also  because  I 
have  lost  a  friend  in  whom  it  was  always  safe  to  confide, 
and  whose  counsel  was  sure  to  be  prompted  by  honest 
motives  and  characterized  by  solid  wisdom. 

Permit  me  to  express  the  hope,  my  dear  Mrs.  Hojme, 
that  as  time  advances  it  maj^  mellow  the  shock  of  the 
dreadful  calamity   by  which   your  dear    husband  lost   his 


lOI 

life,  and  that  in  the  sweet  memories  of  the  past  Ufe,  of 
which  there  is  no  earthly  power  that  can  deprive  you,  as 
well  as  in  the  development  in  your  children  of  those 
qualities  of  their  father  which  made  him  distinguished, 
respected  and  beloved  among  his  fellow-men,  j^ou  will 
derive  consolation  and  peace  of  heart. 

With  assurances  again  of  the  heartfelt  sympathy  of 
Mrs.  Tree  and  myself  with  you  and  yours,  believe  me 
with  great  respect,  ■     , 

Faithfully  your  friend, 

Lambert  Tree. 
Mrs.  Thomas  Hoyue,  Chicago,  III.  ':  '. 


'  .  Roberts'  Summer  Resort, 

^  ••  Neenah,  Wis.,  July  31,  1883. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Hoyne:  The  sad  intelligence  of  the 
sudden  taking  off  of  your  dear  husband  comes  more 
nearly  to  myself  and  mine  than  all  the  world  beside  save 
3'our  own  grief  stricken  family.  It  is  only  a  short  time 
since,  when  driving  through  Lincoln  Park,  we  suddenly 
came  upon  him  in  his  accustomed  walk,  and  stopping  the 
horses,  he  gave  me  such  a  warm,  heartfelt  shake  of  the 
hand,  and  congratulated  me  upon  my  recovery  in  such 
cheering  heartfelt  words  and  tone,  that  I  can  never  forget 
the  incident.  He  was  a  man  of  true,  firm,  honest  con- 
victions, and  always  had  the  courage  to  maintain  them, 
fearless  of  results.  His  kindness  to  me  under  the  most 
trying  circumstances  of  my  life  will  never  be  forgotten 
by  myself  or  mine.  His  friendship  when  extended  was 
warm,  genuine,  from  the  heart.  Hypocrisy  was  to  him 
a  stranger.     Always  more  nearly  correct  than  most  of 


..p 


I 


I02 

his  fellows  in  his  convictions  of  the  right,  he  never 
hesitated  to  maintain  them  under  any  and  all  circum- 
stances. He  was  a  true  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word 
— to  his  family,  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  to  the  State  of 
Illinois,  to  the  Nation.  His  loss  will  be  felt  and  mourned 
by  all.  i  , 

Please  remember  me  kindly  to  ti;e  famil}-,  and  with 
assurances  of  my  highest  respect, 

I  remain  yours  truly, 

P.  H.  Smith. 

Springfield,  Ills.,  July  30,  1883. 
Major  Frank   G.  Hoync,  Chicago. 

My  Dear  Friend:  I  cannot  express  to  you  the 
grief  which  each  member  of  my  family  feels,  and  that  I 
feel,  on  account  of  the  death  of  ^our  father.  No  shock 
has  come  upon  me  with  greater  force  than  the  one  pro- 
duced by  the  telegraphic  announcement  that  he  had  been 
killed  in  a  railroad  disaster  in  the  east.  I  felt  that  it 
might  be  a  mistake,  and,  as  I  could  not  hear  anjthing 
definite,  telegraphed  our  friend  Mr.  McKindley,  hoping 
that  I  might  hear  that  the  first  report  was  not  true;  it 
was,  however,  confirmed  by  a  telegram  from  him  in  a 
little  time. 

In  the  death  of  your  father  I  have  lost  a  highly  es- 
teemed and  beloved  friend.  His  death  makes  a  vacant 
place  in  Chicago  which  no  one  left  can  so  well  fill.  He 
was  public  spirited,  always  at  the  front  in  favor  of  im- 
portant enterprises,  improvements  and  reforms.  He  was 
generous  as  a  citizen,  kind  and  aflectionate  as  a  father, 
and  the  personification  of  honor. 

The   manner  of  his  death  seemed  sad  indeed,  and  is 


1.0 


an  oft  repeated  evidence  that  "  in  the  midst  of  TS^i^fi  Ire 
"  in  death."  ^*^^^/.3i 

I  fully  intended   to   be    present,  with  my  family, 
funeral  ceremonies,  as  a  slight  evidence  of  our  sympathy 
and  affection,  but  could  not  learn  of  the  day  in  time. 

Please  to  convey  to  your  good  mother  and  sister  our 
deep  sympathy  in  your  terrible  affliction,  and  believe  me, 
very  truly  yours,    .      . 

S.    M.    CULLOM. 


'^y 


The  death  of  Mr.  Hoyne  having  occurred  whe?^  many 
of  his  friends  were  absent  from  the  city  for  the  summer, 
a  special  memorial  service  was  held  at  the  Immanuel 
Baptist  Church,  in  September  following.  A  very  large 
assemblage  filled  the  spacious  audience  room.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Lorimer,  pastor  of  the  church,  conducted  the  intro- 
ductorj'  services,  after  which  a  memorial  discourse  was 
given  by  Rev.  Dr.  Burroughs,  followed  by  a  brief 
address  by  Dr.  Lorimer.  The  sermon  and  address  are 
given  below: 

"  Do  incn  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles?  Even  so  every 
good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit,  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringetli  forth 
evil  fruit.  A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a 
corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit. 

"Every  tree  that  bringeth  not  fortli  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and 
cast  into  the  fire." 

Those  who  have  been  absent  from  the  city  during  the 
summer,  upon  their  vacation,  return  to  miss  one  wiio  for 
man}'  3-ears, — many  more  indeed  than  any,  or  any  but  very 
few  of  us  who  are  present,  have  lived  here, — has  been  a 


I04 


familiar  figure  to  the  people  of  Chicago,  whose  face  was. 
probably  known  to  more  of  our  six  hundred  thousand 
people  than  any  other,  and  was  looked  into  bs'  the  people 
of  this  city  with  a  feeling  ditlerent  from  that  with  which 
any  other  face  among  us  was  regarded.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  describe  or  characterize  that  feeling.  It 
was  a  feeling,  first  of  all,  perhaps,  that  he  was  one  of 
us — on  the  part  of  the  older  people  that  he  was  an 
elder  brother,  on  the  part  of  the  young  as  if  he  were  a 
father,  on  the  part  of  all  that  he  was  a  friend — a  true, 
genial,  loving,  sympathizing  friend.  He  knew  and 
was  known  by  almost  everybody  here.  No  matter 
whether  it  was  strictly  a  personal  acquaintance  or  not, 
he  knew  the  people  of  Chicago,  as  such.  They 
belonged  to  a  family,  for  all  of  whom  he  felt  an  interest 
and  an  affection.  Friendly  recognition  of  all  whom  he 
met  in  the  long  daily  walks  in  which  he  was  wont  for 
years  to  thread  every  street  and  suburb  of  the  city,  was 
his  habit,  the  cordial  "  good  morning,"  the  hearty  "  how 
do  you  do!"  accompanied  by  the  kindly  smile  and  the 
direct  and  sincere  look  into  the  face,  which  made  every 
one  feel  that  he  was  not  merely  passing  the  compliments 
of  the  day,  but  rather  expressing  the  greetings  of  real 
friendship.  I  say  those  whom  the  summer  has  taken 
away  from  the  city,  have  returned  to  miss  a  long  familiar 
figure.  These  few  months  have  blotted  out  a  phase,  of 
our  life  here,  that  had  been  prominent  through  almost  its 
whole  extent,  so  prominent  that  it  seemed  almost  insepar- 
able from  it.  The  few  graphic  words  of  Prof.  Swing 
sum  up  the  sad  realities  of  the  storj".  "  Eight  days  upon 
the  Servia,  with  Thomas  Iloyne  as  a  room-mate,"  he 
says,  referring  to  a  European  journey  of  last  year,  "  were 
as  it  now  proves  a  group  of  good-by  days  for  him  and  me; 


m. 


.,     105 

he  was  soon  to  cross  over  quite  another  flood  and  leave 
behind  a  rich  memory  of  acts  and  words  of  kindness.  A 
rapidly  flying  train,  with  engines  toiling  hard  to  transfer 
a  group  of  mortals  from  the  grandeur  of  Niagara  to  the 
beauties  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  is  reaching  out  and  onward 
mile  after  mile  as  a  great  projectile  hurled  at  some  mark, 
two  hundred  miles  awa)-.  A  crash!  a  heap  of  broken  tim- 
bers and  iron  and  men  and  women,  and  then  screams  and 
groans.  Thomas  Hoyne  is  among  tlie  dead.  He  is  la- 
ment^ outside  his  stricken  home.  A  heart  that  loved  all 
good  has  looked  upon  its  home  and  loved  ones  and  friends 
for  the  last  time.  He  has  crossed  the  more  mysterious 
sea!"  And  so  we  who  staid  behind  during  the  summer, 
while  so  man}-  of  you  have  been  away,  gathered  up  thu 
dust  of  our  common  friend  and  sadly  laid  it  in  its  resting 
place  in  Rose  Hill,  and  come  to  join  you  this  morning  as 
all  our  hearts  move  us  in  some  words  of  remembrance  and 
love.  It  is  fitting  that  after  the  lapse  of  these  few  weeks 
since  his  death,  he  should  be  thus  recalled  to  our  memo- 
ries. It  is  a  fault  incidental  to  the  intense  and  changing 
life  that  we  lead  here,  that  those  who  laid  our  foundations 
and  who  have  long  been  a  part  of  our  social  and  political 
being  are  too  soon  forgotten.  In  his  beautiful  tribute  to 
Judge  Manierre,  Mr.  Ho^'ne  himself  has  noted  this  trail 
of  our  character.  "  It  happens,"  he  says,  "  in  all  cities  ot 
so  great  size  as  our  own,  a  city  so  rapid  in  growth  and  of 
so  recent  rise  into  the  rank  of  great  cities,  that  the  deeds 
and  even  the  names  of  the  leaders  of  the  past  are  soon 
forgotten  or  overlooked.  It  is  especially  true  of  this  citj", 
whose  whole  existence  is  nearlj-  comprised  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  generation.  Instability  in  social  and 
family  life  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  our  rapid  rise  anil 
incessant  activity.     The  leaders  of  opinion  of  a  quarter  of 


io6 


a  century  ago  are  to  three-fourths  of  the  present  people 
of  the  cit)',  the  same  as  if  they  had  never  lived  here.  The 
recollection  of  such  early  settlers  as  became  men  eminent 
in  virtue  and  enterprise,  men  who  on  the  frontier  line  be- 
tween savage  and  civilized  life  first  carried  to  the  wilder- 
ness the  culture  and  institutions  of  civilization,  fades  into 
a  dim  past  no  more  distinctive  of  individual  character  than 
the  traditions  that  center  about  the  Mayflower  or  the  Half 
Moon.  Individual  names  indeed  are  generalized  into  the 
chronological  order  of  events,  but  the  identit)^  of  individual 
character  is  lost  in  the  rapid  transition  of  tiie  ever  shifting 
scenes  of  western  life."  ( 

Let  us  hope  that  these  words,  in  which  Mr.  Hoyne'fif- 
teen  3'ears  after  the  death  of  Judge  Manierre,  soughl  to 
call  back  the  remembrance  of  his  life  long  friend,  are  not 
a  presage  that  the  bonds  by  which  he  has  been  bound  so 
closely  to  this  community  will  be  speedily   broken. 

There  is  a  special  fitness  also  that  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Hoyne  should  be  cherislied  by  our  church  and  denomi- 
nation. It  is  true  that  he  was  never  formally  of  us,  that 
in  many  things,  he  was  remote  from  our  faith  and  ecclesi- 
astical usages.  But  it  is  also  true  that  he  had  much,  very 
much  in  common  with  us.  Domestic  ties,  always  cherished 
and  sacred  in  his  iieart,  linked  him  to  the  history  and 
destiny  of  our  church.  An  incident  of  the  early  daj-s  of 
our  church  in  this  city  naturally  connects  itself  hero,  and 
at  this  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  our  origin  may  be 
interesting  to  rememlier.  In  July,  1832,  Dr.  John  T. 
Temple  arrived  here  from  Washington  with  his  wife  and 
four  children.  Understanding  that  there  was  no  church 
or  settled  minister  here,  he  had  solicited  and  received  the 
promise  from  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety that  a  Baptist  minister  should  be  sent  here.   Accord- 


I07  ■■  -^     ■-■  ■  ; 

ingly  on  August,  iS,  1833,  the  Rev.  Allen  B.  Freeman, 
whose  saintly  impress  on  this  community  the  fifty  inter- 
vening years  have  not  effaced,  arrived  here.  Dr.  Temple 
had  already  begun  the  building  of  a  house  of  worship, 
containing  also  rooms  for  a  school  on  the  corner  of  Franklin 
and  SouthWater  streets,  and  here  the  3'oung  preacher  be- 
gan his  ministry,  and  on  the  19th  of  October  following, 
organized  the  First  Baptist  Church.  One  of  the  first, 
probably  the  first  baptism  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Temple. 
I  find  a  memorandum  of  the  incident  preserved  by  Mr. 
Hoyne  among  his  papers.  A  numerous  company  of  citi- 
zens of  the  village  gathered  upon  the  banks  of  the  river, 
then  running  nearly  half  a  mile  south  in  front  of  what  is 
now  Michigan  avenue.  Mrs.  Temple  rode  down  to  the, 
water  in  a  stage  coach  brought  here  by  Dr.  Temple  in 
the  course  of  his  business.  Mr.  Freeman  read  from  the 
scriptures  the  history  of  the  baptism  of  the  Ethiopian,  who 
descended  from  his  chariot  at  the  word  of  Philip  to  re- 
ceive baptism  on  profession  of  his  faith  in  the  Messiah  of 
God,  and  in  like  manner,  baptized  Mrs.  Temple  on  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  With  that 
Christian  family,  Mr.  Hoyne,  a  few  years  later,  became 
identified  by  marriage  with  the  eldest  daughter  and  thus, 
as  we  have  said,  while  himself  never  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  he  was  bound  to  it  by  a  strong  and 
sacred  bond,  and  came  to  seek  its  advancement  and  to 
give  time  and  monej'  to  it  and  its  institutions  as  if  it  were 
his  own.  Other  circumstances  also  had  influence  to  the 
same  end.  In  his  boyhood,  left  an  orphan  in  New  York, 
he  had  been  received  as  a  boarder  into  the  family  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Maclay,  then  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent ministers  of  our  denomination,  and  whose  name  will 
always  live  as  that  of  one  of  our  greatest  and  noblest  men. 


io8 


The  relations  thus  formed  ripened  into  a  cherished  friend- 
ship and  veneration,  and  the  influence  of  this  eminent  man 
of  God  upon  the  boy  bore  fruit  in  the  man  to  his  latest  day. 

With  such  relations  to  our  church,  he  always  took  an 
active  interest  in  whatever  pertained  to  its  progress,  and 
was  always  generous  in  his  appreciation  of  whatever  he 
believed  to  be  good  in  its  teachings  and  practice.  He 
admired  the  spirit  of  liberty  that  has  distinguished  it,  the 
great  and  successful  battle  which  it  has  fought  in  favor  of 
liberty  of  conscience  and  against  the  tyranny  of  a  state 
church,  as  well  as  its  independence  of  state  aid  in  the 
building  up  of  its  institutions.  He  formed  friendships 
with  and  was  earnest  in  his  appreciation  of  many  of  our 
leading  men,  ministers  as  well  as  laymen,  and  I  believe  I 
commit  no  impropriety  in  saying  that  for  the  pastor  of 
this  church  he  had  come  to  entertain  a  strong  regard, 
and  for  the  church  itself  a  deep,  interest  as  well  as  confi- 
dence in  its  future. 

So  much  I  have  thought  it  not  improper  to  say  with 
reference  to  the  special  circumstances  which  bring  us  this 
morning,  as  a  people  and  a  part  of  the  people  of  this  city,' 
to  pay  our  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  Hoyne. 

I  have  read  as  a  guide  to  thoughts  to  which  the  occa- 
sion leads  us,  a  passage  of  the  \vord  of  God,  a  fragment 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mountain,  and  with  no  attempt  at 
a  formal  exposition  of  the  inspired  words,  or  indeed  of  a 
sermon  upon  them,  I  think  these  fundamental  truths  are 
here  plainly  contained.      I  '        I  . 

Principles  of  action  in  themselves  bad  can  not,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  produce  a  life  or  character,  the  ten- 
dencies and  fruits  of  which  are  good  ;  and  conversely,  A 
life  or  character,  the  tendencies  of  which  are  good,  can 
not  issue  from  principles  of  action  which  in  themselves 


are  bad.  Therefore,  the  standard  of  moral  estimate,  the 
test  by  which  moral  condition  and  character  are  to  be  tried 
and  judged,  by  which  every  one  is  to  test  and  judge  him- 
self, and,  we  may  add,  by  which  the  Supreme  judge  will 
try  and  judge  every  man,  is  the  life,  the  deeds,  the  fruits, 
the  tendencies,  which  have  issued  from  that  condition  and 
character.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of 
thistles?  Was  the  noxious  plant,  no.xious  in  its  nature 
and  constitution,  was  the  worthless  and  pestilent  weed, 
ever  known  to  produce  sweet  and  healthful  fruit?  Nour- 
ish and  cherish  it  by  choicest  and  most  assiduous  culture, 
plant  it  in  mellow  and  generous  soil,  let  rains  and  dews 
and  sunshine,  year  after  j-ear  expend  their  wealth  of 
fructifying  power  upon  it,  it  is  all  the  same.  Stock  and 
leaf,  it  is  true,  may  start- to  fuller  growth,  the  flower  may 
assume  brighter  tints,  and  even  a  semblance  of  fruit  may 
tempt  the  unwary  to  believe  that  grapes  have  at  length 
grown  upon  the  thorn,  and  figs  upon  the  thistle,  but 
when  hungry  for  that  which  is  good  and  healthful  and 
life  giving,  they  have  stretched  out  the  hand  to  pluck  and 
eat,  they  have  found  that  the  bough  which  the}'  grasped 
was  thorny  and  lacerating,  and  the  fruit  was  but  apples 
of  Sodom,  of  which  they  could  not  taste. 

Applying  now  the  figurative  illustration  of  the  text. 
Principles  of  human  life  and  character  in  their  own  nature 
bad,  do  never,  can  never  produce  lives  and  characters 
that  are  sound  and  healthful  and  beneficent.  Lives  and 
characters  rooted  in  selfishness  and  sensuality,  in  greed  of 
wealth  and  power  and  fame,  have  often  stood  out  before 
the  world  surrounded  by  the  seductive  halo  of  genius,  of 
splendid  endowments  and  rich  and  varied  culture,  and  men 
have  been  dazzled  and  charmed  by  their  brillianc}'  and 
grasped  at  the  products  of  their  genius  expecting  to  find 


no 


food  for  the  hungry  soul,  and  support  and  strength  to  life 
and  heart  and  hope,  but  the  final  result  has  been  disap- 
pointing and  bitter.  The  weary  and  hungry  soul  has 
found  no  final  rest  under  the  shadow,  no  satisf3'ing  fruit 
on  the  branches  of  the  fair,  but  deceitful  tree. 

Again  seeking  to  apply  the  figure  of  the  text,  lives  and 
characters,  the  aggregate  tendencies  of  which  are  seen  to 
be  good,  which  in  the  language  of  Matthew  Arnold  "  make 
for  righteousness,"  make  for  truth  and  purity  and  love,  for 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men,  for  reverence  of  God 
and  God's  law,  such  lives  and  characters  do  not,  in  the 
nature  of  things  cannot  proceed  from  a  principle,  from  a 
root  or  basis,  in  its  own  essential  nature  bad,  false,  cor- 
rupt. It  will  be  seen  that  the  text  justifies  the  double 
assertion  that  a  good  life  neither  does  nor  can  proceed 
from  a  bad  heart  or  moving  principle.  Every  good  tree 
bringcth  forth  good  fruit;  a  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth 
evil  fruit.  A  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit,  neither 
can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit.  Tliis  is  a 
fundamental  law,  which  in  the  nature  of  things,  admits  of 
no  exception.  It  will  be  remembered  how  exactly  the 
statement  of  the  law  by  our  Saviour  harmonizes  with  the 
later  expression  of  St.  Paul,  or  rather  how  exactly  the 
latter  catches  up  and  echoes  the  teaching  of  his  Divine 
Master.  "  For,"  he  saj's,  "  the  natural  man  " — Paul's  ex- 
pression for  a  bad  man — "the  natural  man  discerneth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit,  neither  can  he  know  them,  for 
tliey  are  spirituall)'  discerned."  And  again  he  tells  us 
"  love,  joy,  peace,  long  sufl'ering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
faith,  meekness,  temperance" — grand  epitome  of  a  good 
and  noble  life — these  are  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit.  1 

John  puts  the  same  truth  in  a  different  and  vivid  light: 
"  He  that  doelh  ritrhteousness  is  righteous  even  as  God  is 


Ill 

righteous.  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil.  Who- 
soever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,"  /.  c,  does  not 
with  the  consent  of  his  own  free  will,  liis  own  unfettered 
volition,  the  real  man,  commit  sin.  And  John  gives  the 
reason,  "  for,"  he  adds,  ",his  seed"- -the  seed  of  God^ 
'•  remaineth  in  him,  neither  can  he  sin,  because  he  is  born 

of  God."  ^  :.-.:/;:^-' ■:,'-•  /■  ■ '  -:  .      '■  r,:..  • 

Some  years  ago  I  had  planted  a  flower-garden,  and  for 
some  seasons  had  delighted  in  its  wealth  of  bloom,  and 
beauty.  But  ciianges  came,  and  grass  and  weeds  and 
brambles  were  allowed  to  overrun  the  beds,  and  choke 
and  smother  the  flowers,  so  that  for  years  none  had  been 
seen.  Coming  back  after,  it  must  have  been,  ten  years,  I 
again  opened  the  soil  to  the  spring  sunshine  and  rains, 
thinking,  after  a  little,  again  to  plant  the  seeds  of 
favorite  flowers;  wlien,  lo!  in  coming  back  after  unex- 
pected dela}-  to  my  task,  I  found  that  my  favorites  of 
years  ago  had  anticipated  my  coming.  The  verdure  of 
the  plants  that  I  used  to  love,  just  as  I  had  seen  them 
years  before,  alread}'  covered  the  ground,  and  the  early 
kinds  were  already  putting  forth  flowers.  The  seed  had 
remained  buried  and  overgrown  and  hidden,  but  vital  and 
potent,  and  its  nature  unchanged  by  time,  or  darkness,  or 
overlying  weeds.  So  the  seed  of  God  once  planted  in  the 
soul  remains  there.  Rank  growths  of  temptation,  of 
human  passions  and  earthly  affections  may  overspread  it, 
but  its  essential  nature  is  unchanged,  and  it  will  in  due 
time  bring  forth  fruit  in  its  kind,  and  when  that  fruit  is 
seen,  we  know  that  it  is  not  the  fruit  of  any  other  seed, 
but  of  the  seed  of  God,  because  it  is  God-like. 

Let  not  the  language  of  John  be  pressed  too  far,  as  if 
he  would  accept  nothing  less  than  absolute  perfection,  as 
a  claim  to  sonship  with  God.     The  stream,  in  its  course 


112 


I- 


from  its  mountain  source,  makes  many  windings,  may 
seem  at  times  lost  in  inextricable  mazes,  but  he  who  sur- 
veys its  whole  sweep,  will  see  that  its  trend  is  still  and 
always  oceanward. 

Again,  we  said  it  follows  from  our  text  that  the  only 
right  standard  of  judgment  of  man  and  of  all  the  works 
of  men — their  institutions,  their  laws,  their  literature — is 
their  fruits.  Do  real  grapes,  and  not  bitter  and  poisonous 
semblance  of  grapes,  grow  on  the  tree,  let  that  tree,  un- 
promising and  gnarled  and  scraggy  though  it  looks,  be 
pronounced  good.  Let  it  stand  and  grow.  Its  fruit  is 
its  title  to  the  right  to  live.  On  the  other  hand  is  the 
tree  fair  and  flourishing,  but  the  fruit  bitter  and  noxious, 
let  no  fairness  of  form,  or  luxuriance  of  foliage,  or  beauty 
of  blossom  spare  it;  let  it  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into 
the  fire. 

Let  men  be  tried  and  judged  by  this  standard.  Let  no 
mere  professions  count  for  anything.  Opinions,  beliefs, 
which  pass  for  orthodox,  count  only  zero  in  this  scale. 
"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  "  Many  shall  say  unto 
me.  Lord,  Lord,  in  that  day  " — that  day  when  the  scale 
shall  be  held  up  in  the  unwavering  hand  of  the  Supreme 
Judge — "but  then  will  I  say,  depart  from  me;  I  never 
knew  you.     Depart  from  me,  ye  that  tvork  iniquity." 

Let  churches  be  tried  by  this  standard.  They  may  be 
great  and  rich  and  powerful,  their  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion may  be  skillfully  devised,  may  enfold  all  the  elements 
for  rapid  and  wide  extension,  but  what  have  they  done, 
what  are  they  doing  for  man  and  for  God?  Their  creeds 
may  embody  skillfull}'  drawn  and  profound  formularies  of 
substantial  and  fundamental  truth.  As  such  they  may  be 
helpful  to  the  intellect,  but  in  themselves  they  touch  not 
the  soul.    They  miiy  live  in  the  intellect  forever  and  never 


"3 

reach  the  springs  of  action  and  character,  and  so  ma^- 
never  bear  one  fruit  to  bless  men  or  glorif3-  God.  Let 
churches,  then,  be  tried  by  this  standard,  not  by  the  ortho- 
doxy of  their  doctrinal  formularies,  but  by  what  they  are 
actually  doing  to  honor  God,  while  they  do  good  to  those 
whom  God  would  uplift  and  save.  If  the  tree  bear  such 
fruit,  it  is  good;  otherwise,  whatever  its  name  or  its  pre- 
tensions, let  it  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire.  It  is 
good  onl}'  to  be  burned,  that  in  its  burning  it  may  afford 
a  lurid  illustration  of  the  hollowness  and  emptiness  of 
mere  profession,  especially  when  clad  in  the  sheep's 
clothing  of  the  Christian  name. 

Let  laws  and  constitutions  be  tried  b}'  this  standard. 
They  may  be  the  product  of  the  noblest  intellects,  they 
may  embody  the  loftiest  maxims  of  political  wisdom,  the}' 
ma}'  be  held  in  idolatrous  admiration  and  reverence,  but 
if  even  at  only  one  point  they  make  against  humanity, 
that  whole  humanity  which  God  loves,  and  to  save  which 
the  Son  of  God  died,  there  is  corruption  in  the  tree,  it 
brings  forth  evil  fruit.  Under  that  government  that  never 
in  the  final  event  loses  sjght  of  the  ends  of  justice,  that 
tree,  sooner  or  later,  shall  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into 
the  fire. 

It  will  be  anticipated  that  we  have  thus  glanced  at  these 
elementary  truths,  because  we  hold  them  to  be  applicable 
to  a  just  estimate  of  the  character  of  him  whose  memory 
we  recall  in  these  services.  It  will  be  anticipated  tJiat  we 
mean  that,  judged  by  the  fruits  and  tendencies  of  his  life, 
the  governing  principles  and  motives  that  moulded  and 
swayed  the  character  of  our  lamented  friend,  were  good 
and  beneficent  and  noble,  that  the  life  which  resulted  was 
a  blessing  to  those  whom  it  reached,  that  the  ends 
which  he  sought,  based  on  the  imperishable  foundations 


114 


of  truth  and  justice  and  love,  will  endure  and  will  follow 
him,  and  be  to  him  a  crown  of  joy  in  the  higher  life  upon 
which  he  has  entered.  I  believe  such  to  be  the  universal 
verdict  of  those  among  whom  he  has  spent  his  life.  I  be-" 
lieve  that  even  an  enemy,  if  he  had  such,  would  concede 
that  the  ends  for  which  Mr.  Hoyne  labored  were  intended, 
by  him  to  be,  and  in  their  aggregate  were,  for  the  benefit 
of  his  fellow-men,  and  that  the  course  of  life  which  he 
marked  out  for  himself  tended  steadily  and  strongly  not 
towards  what  was  groveling  and  sensual  and  selfish,  but 
towards  whatsoever  was  pure  and  lovely  and  of  good  re- 
port. 

Were  we  to  attempt  lo  trace  the  evidence  of  this  in  an 
extended  review  of  his  life  we  should  need  to  begin  back 
to  his  bo3'hood,  where  we  find  the  orphan  apprentice  of 
fifteen  years  toiling  at  his  bench  by  day,  and  at  night  on 
the  benches  of  the  night  school,  or  joined  in  association 
with  others  like  himself  for  mutual  aid  in  the  search  for 
knowledge  and  improvement.  The  bent  towards  the  no- 
ble, rich  manhood  that  was  to  come  was  already  in  the 
boy.  We  should  need  to  follow  him,  as  at  twenty-one 
years  of  age  he  seeks  in  the  j'oung  city  of  Chicago 
a  field  wherein  to  work  out  the  destiny  which  was  then 
an  ideal,  but  which  he  lived  to  make  a  reality.  His  own 
vivid  picture  of  the  feelings  with  which,  two  years  before, 
his  friend  Manierre  had  taken  the  same  step,  was  evi- 
dently drawn  largely  from  his  own  experience,  and  doubt- 
less portrays  the  tlioughts  and  impulses  of  his  own  mind 
in  that  eventful  crisis.  "  Thus,"  he  writes,  "  we  have  Judge 
"  Manierre  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen  entering  on  his 
"  life  career  in  Chicago.  From  New  York  to  Chicago, 
'=  then!  The  contrast  was  something  startling.  The  pop- 
"  ulation  was  estimated  at  barely  one  thousand,  living  not 


...  '         .  ;    t  "  .  "  ~*- 

"exactly  in  huts,  but  by  no  means  elegantly  housed.  It  is 
"stated,  indeed,  that  in  1835,  there  were  only  three  brick 
"tenements  in  the  whole  village.  But  what  mattered  it! 
"  Here  was  the  inland  sea  on  the  one  side,  on  the  other 
"  the  boundless,  unbroken  prairie,  the  prairies  of  which 
"  Bryant  had  sung:  .;.-,.:•  •     -  ;' 

'Those  unshorn  fields  where  lingered  ^et  •    " 

The  beauty  of  the  earth,  ere  men  had  sinned,'         ':": 

"and  where,  with  prophet's  ear,  he  had  heard  'the  sound 
"of  the  coming  multitude  that  was  soon  to  fill  these  popu- 
"  lous  borders.' "  Another  local  historian  writing  of  the 
Chicago  of  that  daj-,  says:  At  that  day  all  that  remained 
to  support  Chicago  was  hope.  The  povertj'  of  the  place 
was  visible  and  unfeigned.  Money  and  the  people  had 
long  been  strangers,  and  the  more  land  a  man  had  the 
worse  off  he  apparently  was.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
few  who  despaired;  the  genius  of  the  place  forbade  it. 
"  Yes,"  adds  Mr.  Hoyne,  "  and  it  was  this  hopefulness 
which  inspired  each  citizen  from  the  beginning — which 
gave  fortitude  to  bear,  and  courage  to  undertake,  what- 
ever was  proposed  as  possible  to  human  execution."  The 
words  are  a  clear  reflection  of  his  own  heroic  spirit — the 
spirit  that  in  his  3'outh  bore  him  into  the  manly  struggle 
with  destin}',  and  that  made  him  alwaj's  the  man  of  enter- 
prise that  he  was,  and  the  fearless  and  untiring  champion 
of  whatever  cause  he  espoused.  Pursuing  still  our  search 
for  the  fruits  which  his  life  has  borne,  we  should  follow 
him  to  that  stage  where  the  battle  with  his  own  fortunes 
had  been  fought  and  won,  and  he  might  have  rested  on 
his  laurels,  in  assured  possession  of  fortune,  reputation, 
and  all  the  means  of  selfish  indulgence.  In  such  a  life  he 
would  have  been  in  the  company  of  manv  men  who 
clutch  greedily  at  all  that  society  has  to  bestow,  but  who 


ii6 


have  no  conception  that  they  owe  anj^thing  to  society  in 
return   for  what   they  receive  from  it.     Mr.  Hoyne  was 
not   one  of   these.     If  any  one  sentiment   pervaded  and 
dominated  his  Hfe,  it  was  that  of  a  large  and  generous 
public  spirit.     If  there  was  any  earthly  thing  that,  next  to 
his  family,  he  loved  supremely,  it  was  the  city  in  which  he 
had  reaped  success  and  fortune.    For  the  good  of  Chicago 
he  labored  with   untiring  and  passionate  devotion.     He 
had  a  clear  perception  of  the  necessary  elements  of  social 
progress   and  prosperity,  and  he  sought  earnestly  to  in- 
corporate them   into  our  city's  life   and   institutions.      He 
deprecated  the  idea  that  the  city  should  be  "  a  mere  citv 
of  traders."     So  far  back  as  1840,  when  he  had  been  but 
three  years  here,  an  address  of  his  before  a  j'oung  men's 
literary  society,  which   he  and   his  friend    Manierre  had 
organized,  was  printed.     In  it  I  find  this  passage:  "It  is 
true  that  the  elements  of  prosperity  surround  us;  but  let 
us  remember  that  mere  phj'sical  greatness  is  as  nothing 
compared    with    moral  and    mental  culture.     Especially 
should  we  promote  the  interests  of  religion,  morality  and 
education.     Then,  indeed,  shall  we  arrive  at   true  great- 
ness, and  our  children-  will  point  with  honest  pride  to  the 
annals  of  Chicago."     To  what  he  thus  earl}'  expressed 
Mr.  Hoyne  remained  true  to  the  last.     Schools,  colleges, 
churches,    universities,    literary  and    historical   societies, 
libraries,  institutions  of  charity,  wise  and  sound  laws,  and 
pure  and  clean  administrative  methods,  these  were  the  gifts 
that  he  earnestly  coveted  for  his  cit}',  and  towards  them  all 
he  held  out  an  open  hand,  and  freely  gave  to  them  his  time, 
his  counsels,  and   his   influence.     Into   the    details  of  the 
part  he  bore  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of  such  insti- 
tutions, we  may  not  now  enter;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from 
mention  of  his  connection  with  one  of  them  to  which  our 


I  ■ 


-■:  ■  :  ;/;  •  ri7  ;. ::, 

denomination  holds  intimate  relations.  The  University  of 
Chicago  had  no  truer  or  more  magnanimous  friend  than 
Thomas  Hoyne.  The  first  line  that  was  penned  for  it,  and 
which  had  much  to  do  with  giving  it  being,  was  written 
by  his  hand.  Over  every  day  of  its  history  he  watched  with 
deep,  and  often  painful,  solicitude.  The  last  hour  I  ever 
spent  with  him,  a  few  days  before  his  death,  he  returned 
to  the  theme  on  which  we  had  so  often  talked,  and  with 
deep  feeling  he  repeated  that  he  could  not  give  it  up  that 
help  would  come  to  the  university,  that  some  man  or  men 
would  yet  rise  to  the  appreciation  of  the  great  possibili- 
ties for  good  that  were  in  that  institution.  God  grant  that 
these,  probably  his  last,  words  on  this  subject,  may  prove 
prophetic,  and  issue  in  speedy  realization. 

Turning  away  now,  as  we  must,  from  all  consideration 
of  Mr.  Hoyne's  more  public  character,  his  political  and 
professional  career,  in  which,  could  we  pursue  it,  we  should 
find  at  every  step  ripe  and  rich  fruits  of  the  principles 
which  governed  his  life,  as  well  as  enduring  monuments 
of  the  intellectual  strength  and  the  manh*  eloquence  for 
which  hr  .s  distinguished;  turning  from  all  this,  we 
glance  '  lor  one  moment  at  his  own  individual  per- 
sonality .  Were  the  question  proposed  to  those  who  have 
known  him  longest  and  best,  what  was  Mr.  Hoyne's 
strongest  trait,  I  tliink  the  answer  would  not  be  long  in 
coming.  Uprightness,  an  integrity  pervading  every 
phase  and  movement  of  his  life,  and  entering  into  the 
ver}-  fibre  of  his  being.  This  it  was  which,  above  all 
other  things,  marked  the  man.  On  all  questions  involv- 
ing a  principle  of  right  and  wrong,  men  knew  just  where 
to  find  him,  and  for  this  thp  friends  of  right  sought  and 
trusted  him,  its  enemies  shunned  and  dreaded  him. 
There  is  testimony  also  to  the   purit}'  and  chastity  of  his 


i^ 


ii8 


life  and  words.  I  have  before  me  a  note  written  bj'  one 
who  had  been  intimately  related  to  him  professionally  and 
socially  for  nearly  fifty  }-ears,  emphasizing  the  fact  that 
in  all  those  years  no  word  or  allusion  offensive  to  strictest 
chasiity  had  been  heard  to  pass  the  lips  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  or 
uttered  b\-  others  had  escaped  his  frown.  Such  testi- 
monies show  how  sweet  and  healthful  is  the  fruit  that 
fjrows  upon  the  tree  that  takes  root  in  reverence  and  love 
for  the  law  of  God. 

Beyond  these  more  outward  phases  of  his  character 
there  was  also  a  deeper  one,  one  that  had  its  seat  in  the 
inmost  depths  of  his  being,  whose  sphere  was  in  the  con- 
sciousness, the  affections,  the  volitions  and  struggles  of 
his  soul.  He  himself  never  sought  to  open  that  sanctuary 
to  the  gaze  of  men;  he  held  it  rather  as"  a  meeting  place 
between  himself  and  his  God,  and  if  ever,  in  the 
intimacy  of  personal  friendship,  he  drew  back  the  veil  of 
that  sanctuary,  the  solemnity*  and  awe  of  his  manner 
showed  that  the  feeling  of  his  heart  was,  "  —  take  thy 
shoes  from  otV  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou 
standest  is  holv  ground."  He  never  made  a  public  and 
form.d  profession  of  religion,  but  those  who  knew  him 
best  had  fullest  assurance  that  he  was  not  a  stranger  to  a 
deep  and  earnest  religious  life.  More,  I  believe  that 
the  most  potent  motives,  the  deepest  springs  of  his 
action  and  character,  the  force  that  dominated  his  being, 
and  made  his  life  the  noble  life  that  it  was,  were 
essentially  religious,  and  took  root  in  deep  seated 
reverence  for  the  law  of  God.  I  have  referred  to  the 
bent  of  his  boyhood.  Beyond  doubt  that  bent  was 
■liven  bv  the  reli<rious  instruction  and  training  of  his  home 
life  in  childhood  by  his  parents,  who  were  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  communion.      It  received  also,  there 


119 


is  reason  to  believe,  confirmation  and  strength  under  the 
teachings  and  personal  influence  of  Dr.  Archibald  Maclay, 
in  whose  family,  we  have  noticed,  he  passed  some  years, 
and  whose  memory  he  ever  held  in  deepest  veneration. 

These  two  streams  of  influence,  seemingly  opposite 
and  conflicting  yet  united,  in  the  thought  and  character 
of  the  young  man,  as  a  common  current  fed  from  the 
fountain  of  faith  in  One  God  and  Father,  and  in  the 
Divine  Son  as  the  only  Savior  of  sinners.  And  so,  with 
little-interest  in  the  differences  between  the  ecclesiastical 
systems  to  which  these  truths  were  common  and  funda- 
mental,  he  yet  firmly  and  clearly  grasped  the  truths  them- 
selves and  they  were,  especially  in  his  later  years,  a  sure 
foundation  on  which  his  faith  and  hope  abidingly  rested. 

An  incident  is  recalled  in  this  connection  which  it  is 
pleasant  to  remember.  A  few  days  before  his  death  I 
stood  with  Mr.  Hoyne  at  the  grave  side  of  the  latfe  Mrs. 
J.  H.  Woodworth,  and  as  he  strewed  flowers  upon  the 
coffin,  with  words  of  warm  appreciation  of  the  life  and 
character  of  the  deceased,  hb  added:  "  How  strange  that 
any  should  believe  that  such  powers  were  buried  forever 
in  the  grave!  No!"  he  exclaimed,  "this  life  is  but  the 
beginning  of  our  existence.  It  will  reach  its  perfection 
■  only  in  its  immortal  state";  and  as  he  spoke  his  face  was 
aglow  as  those  who  have  heard  him  speak  when  deepl3' 
aroused  have  seen  it,  and  his  e3'e  was  uplifted  as  if  he 
caught  sight  of  the  shores  of  the  eternal  world  of  which 
he  spoke,  and  on  which  he  was  so  soon  to  stand.       ■  ..    •  ! 

But  with  faith  and  hope  thus  clear,  no  one  realized 
more  keenly  how  sharp  is  the  conflict  between  the  natural 
and  the  spiritual  life,  and  no  longing  of  his  soul  was 
stronger  than  to  overcome  in  that  conflict.  Even  his 
most    intimate  friends  had  little  idea  of  this  side  of  his 


I20 


character.  In  all  that  related  to  it  he  was  undemonstra- 
tive and  even  reticent,  and  it  is  only  as  by  records 
which  he  left  we  follow  him  away  from  his  intense  and 
sometimes  stormy  interest  in  this  life  to  the  retreat 
where  he  holds  communion  with  his  own  soul  and  with 
his  God,  that  we  catch  <riimpses  of  that  inner  life  of 
his  spirit,  more  earnest  and  intense  than  the  outer  life 
which  we  knew.  At  the  risk  of  seeminjf  to  profane 
what  should  be  held  sacred,  I  can  not  withhold  one  such 
expression  of  his  inner  life,  a  paper  carefully  folded  in 
the  drawer  of  his  study-table,  and  marked  "  A  Medita- 
tion and  a  Prayer,"  which  had  evidently  been  the  med- 
ium of  frequent  communion  with  God,  when  at  close  of 
busy  and  oftentimes  turbulent  days,  he  would  '•  enter  into 
his  closet  and  shut  tiie  door  and  pray  to  the  Father 
which  is  in  secret."  . 

'•Oh  God!  Source  of  all  things  created — the  greatest 
mystery  of  existence — Thou  hast  given  us  knowledge 
according  to  our  ability  to  comprehend  it;  and  we  knoii.' 
that  th\-  service  and  the  doing  all  that  is  just  and  right 
according  to  the  light  given,  is  the  principal  cause  of  all 
human  happiness.  In  sin  and  transgression  according 
to  that  knowledge  lies  all  our  danger  as  well  in  this  world 
as  the  next.  Yet,  oh  Lord  and  God,  though  we  offend 
against  this  knowledge  and  against  our  own  sense  of 
duty,  against  thee,  and  seriously  jeopardize  our  lives,  in- 
vite misfortunes  and  bring  upon  ourselves  the  most  dread- 
ful risks  of  punishment,  of  death,  and  the  loss  of  our 
salvation  and  all  that  is  involved  in  thy  displeasure;  yet, 
oh  God!  lliy  mercy  exceedetli  all!  The  forbearance  of 
no  earthlj-  parent  equals  thy  long  sutVering  and  toleration 
of  the  sins  we  commit.  Our  secret  sins  are  not  hidden, 
but  their  very  concealment    constitutes    a    part    of    our 


J_  ■ 


121 


crimes.  Had  we  no  hope,  no  assurance  of  thy  mercy 
forgiveness,  to  live  in  the  knowledge  of  what  we  have 
done  against  thee,  would  be  utter  despair!  Our  lives 
would  be  a  torment  in  prospect  of  death  I  But,  oh! 
Father,  who  hast  sent  a  divine  mediator  to  redeem  a  lost 
ivorJd,  and  raise  fallen  human  nature  from  so  terrible  a 
state  of  wretchedness,  let  rne  think  of  my  repeated  trans- 
gressions, that  I  may  find  forgiveness  of  the  past,  and  be 
fortified  against  temptations  in  the  future. 

It  is  written  that  thv  great  Son,  during  his  life,  recog- 
nized the  condition  of  our  fallen  nature  and  extended  th)' 
mercy  and  forgiveness  to  jmany  sinners.  Peter  denied 
him  thrice  against  his  own  resolution  to  maintain  his  in- 
tegrity, but  was  forgiven.  The  Mary  Magdalene  was 
pardoned,  and  the  dying  thief  on  the  cross  was  promised 
a  meeting  in  Heaven.  It  is  in  this  merciful  blending 
of  the  human  and  divine  that  we  can  only  be  consoled. 

Our  sins  oppress  us,  we  are  depressed  on  their  account, 
and  turn  away  from  ourselves  with  disgust  of  our  natural 
proneness  to  commit  them,  but  remembering  this  love  we 
take  comfort  in  the  hope  of   forgiveness  and  pardon. 

Oh,  holy  Lord  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost, 
grant  us  the  strength  to  avoid  sin,  so  that  we  may  at  all 
times  be  assured  of  our  peace!  Hear  us,  oh  Father.  Take 
not  away  thy  favor;  let  thy  wisdom  guide  us;  may  every 
enemy  we  have  find  favor  in  thy  sight;  and  ma}'  we  for 
the  future  so  live  as  if  in  preparation  for  the  judgment. 

Amen."  '    ■■•'j'--^  "v:"'-  •- '  "  "'      '     ■.-■ 

It  is  thus  that  he,  who  to  outward  seeming  is  mindful 
of  no  interest  but  those  of  this  life,  is  seen  to  turn  away 
from  all  this  life's  concerns,  and  from  the  conflicts  and 
ambitions  of  his  professional  and  political  career,  to  hold 
converse  with  God  and  to  seek  for  peace  with  him  as  the 


■V- . . 


:■<.« 


::22 


highest  good.  It  is  thus  that  he,  whose  fiery  denuncia- 
tions of  wrong-doing  has  made  him  seem  to  be  the 
enemy  of  wrong-doers,  is  seen  in  the  spirit  of  tenderness 
and  love,  to  seek  for  them  that  forgiveness  of  God  which 
he  craves  for  himself.  It  is  thus  that  he,  whose  spirit 
before  men  was  proud  and  fearless,  in  the  presence  of 
God  becomes  as  the  spirit  of  a  little  child,  and  bows  at 
the  altar  of  the  common  Father,  by  the  side  of  the  hum- 
blest of  his  fellow-men  and  the  bitterest  of  his  enemies, 
in  brokenness  of  heart  for  his-unworthiness,  and  in  plead- 
ings for  mere}",  forgiveness  and  love.  And  if  in  these 
struggles  of  his  soul  for  duliverance  from  the  burden  of 
sin  and  death,  our  brother  seeks  the  altars  of  another 
church  than  ours,  let  us  not  feel  that  we  must  part  from 
him  there,  but  bow  by  his  side,  and  with  him  look  up  to 
his  God  and  ours  for  the  victorv  of  faith  that  overcomes 
the  world. 


Ab6re$s  of  Dr.  Lorimer. 


It  may  seem  strange  to  those  who  do  not  appreciate 
the  catholicity  of  the  people  worshiping  here,  that  a 
member  of  another  denomination  should  be  honored*  with 
memorial  services  such  as  these.  The  ecclesiastical  and 
sacerdotal  system  to  which  the  deceased  subscribed,  this 
church  has  no  sympathy  with;  and  yet  she  has  never 
failed  to  recognize  the  saintly  characters  of  many  who 
have  grown  up  under  its  shadow.  She  discerns  the  fact 
that  goodness,  and  faith  in   Christ,  are   not  bound  to  the 


narrow  limits  of  any  sect;  and  these  she  would  acknowl- 
edge everywhere,  though  they  may  be  intermixt  with 
what  she  cannot  but  regard  as  perilous  error.  In  the 
case  of  the  departed,  however,  something  more  is  to  be 
said  in  explanation  of  these  commemorative  ceremonies. 
They  are  peculiarly  fitting,  not  merely  on  account  of 
family  relations  with  this  church,  but  on  account  of  his 
own  interest  in  matters  associated  with  her  work. 

Mr.  Hoyne,  though  a  Catholic  in  belief,  was  to  a  great 
extent  a  Protestant  in  practice,  holding  to  liberty  of 
conscience,  the  right  of  all  to  study  the  Bible  and  to 
approach  God  in  pra3er,  rights  which  he  exercised  dail\-, 
and  laboring  to  advance  the  cause  of  sound  education  and 
higher  learning  in  an  institution  which,  though  un- 
sectarian,  and  certainl}^  not  Romanist  in  tendency,  is 
decidedly  and  avowedly  Christian.  As  j'ou  have  already 
learned  from  the  eloquent  lips  of  the  founder  and  first 
president  of  Chicago  University,  Mr.  Hovne  was  deeply 
concerned  in  its  welfare,  toiled  for  its  advancement,  and 
had  the  greatest  confidence  in  its  future.  Under  these 
circumstances  we  feel  that  we  have  part  and  lot  in  the 
life  which  was  ended  so  sadly  and  suddenly,  and  that  in 
this  place  its  merit  should  be  recognized. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Hoj'ne  was  exceedingly 
slight  and  limited.  I  met  him  for  the  first  time  on  the 
platform  of  Central  Music  Hall,  on  the  evening  when  an 
effort  was  made  to  arouse  public  interest  in  the  erection 
of  a  suitable  memorial  of  the  great  fire.  On  that  occasion 
he  spoke,  graphicallj'  describing  the  terrible  conflagration, 
and  appealed  urgently  and  cogently  to  the  audience  that 
proper  steps  be  taken  to  perpetuate  the  sympathy  of  the 
world  which  was  abundantly  expressed  in  that  heart- 
rending scene  of   calamity.     Subsequently  I  heard  him 


124 


before  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  university,  reviewing 
its  history,  arraigning  its  enemies,  and  defining  its 
poHcy,  or  ratiier  what  ought  to  be  its  policv.  In  those 
speeches  I  was  impressed  by  his  power  of  analj-sis,  his 
ability  to  grasp  a  subject  in  all  of  its  bearings,  and  by  the 
ft!rvency  and  nervousness  of  his  delivery.  His  thoughts 
seemed  to  be  clearly  before  his  mind  as  pictures,  which 
he  unrolled  with  panoramic-like  system,  and  his  whole 
manner  suggested  the  deepest  conviction.  His  words 
were  living  and  burning;  his  conclusions  were  hurled 
with  Titanic  force  at  his  hearers,  and  he  appeared  to 
revel  and  luxuriate  in  the  consciousness  that  he  was 
moulding  the  opinions  and  deciding  the  actions  of  others. 
I  felt  on  both  of  these  occasions  that  I  was  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  honest  man,  and  one  whose  enthusiasm  age 
had  hardl}-  abated.  Consequently  I  was  drawn  to  him. 
Our  acquaintance  grew  througii  personal  intercourse, 
rendered  possible  by  one  or  two  meetings  of  a  social  and 
society  character,  and  by  casual  walks  with  him  when 
seeking  exercise.  My  first  impression  was  deepened  by 
this  intercourse,  but  as  jet  I  had  obtained  no  insight  into 
the  more  genial  and  devout  side  of  his  nature.  Indeed,  I 
must  confess  that  at  the  bejfinninj:'  I  was  inclined  to  look 
upon  him  as  comparatively  a  stranger  to  the  gentler  and 
tenderer  feelings,  and  considered  him  more  as  a  man  of 
head  than  of  heart  — more  a  man  of  affairs  than  of  senti- 
ment. This  erroneous  estimate,  however,  was  happily 
removed.  He  had  frequently  invited  me  to  spend  an  even- 
ing with  him  at  his  home,  and  a  few  months  since,  not  very 
long  before  my  departure  for  Europe,  I  availed  myself  of 
the  privilege.  When  I  arrived  he  was  alone,  and  he 
extended  a  warm,  sunny  welcome  which  immediately  put 
me  at  my  ease.   We  conversed  together, mainl}'  on  religious 


"5 


subjects,  and  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  he  had  read 
extensively  in  these  directions.  He  dwelt  particularly  on 
prayer  and  on  Providence,  avowing  his  belief  in  both, 
deplored  the  free-thinking  tendencies  of  the  times,  and  I 
thought  was  unusually  interested  in  what  I  told  him,  of 
the  conversion  of  Heine,  and  of  some  other  celebrated 
Germans.  His  conversation  throughout  was  reverent 
and  devout,  with  just  a  flavor  of  mj'sticism  about  it,  and 
j'et  not  enough  lo  mar  the  soberness  of  his  faith.  We 
were  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  a  distinguished  gentle- 
man, and  our  minds  were  directed  to  other  channels,  par- 
ticularly to  the  interests  of  the  university.  What  was 
said  is  of  no  importance,  but  he  maintained,  in  view  of 
Chicago's  present  and  future  greatness,  that  the  mone3-ed 
men  of  the  city  should  rally  round  that  struggling  institu- 
tion, and  should  place  it  on  such  a  foundation  as  to  com- 
mand the  support  of  students  throughout  the  north-west. 
He  had  no  hesitancy  in  declaring  that  the  refining  and 
elevating  influences  of  a  noble  seat  of  learning  on  the 
entire  community  would  Ue  worth  infinitely  more  than 
the  money  it  would  cost,  r  rom  this  prolonged  interview 
I  rose  with  a  clearer  knowledge  of  my  host,  appreciating 
what  I  had  not  discerned?'  before — that  in  his  character 
met  and  blended  the  gentleness  of  the  dawn  and  the 
strength  of  the  storm,  the  ruggedness  of  the  sea  and  the 
serenity  of  the  azure,  the  sturdiness  of  the  oak,  and  the 
gracefulness  of  the  flower,  the  intensity  of  fire  and  the  radi- 
ance of  light,  the  vigor  and  reasoning  force  of  a  man,  with 
the  simplicity  and  faith  of  a  child.  Happy  union,  blessed 
fellowship  of  sterling  and  beautiful  qualities,  which  endear 
while  living,  and  which  forever  render  sacred  the  mem- 
ory when  dead.  •  j  •  ;  ■  '  J 
The  termination  of  such  a  career  as  his  cannot  but  be 


126 


regarded  as  a  public  loss.  When  the  l3-re  is  out  of  tune 
we  miss  the  harmony,  but  when  its  strings  are  broken, 
w'e  weep  tliat  its  music  shall  be  heard  no  more  forever. 
When  the  gleaming  meteor  falls  through  the  sW  we  are 
amazed  at  its  passing  splendor,  and  grieve  that  it  should 
so  soon  be  eclipsed  in  darkness;  but  were  the  sun  to  rush 
from  its  centre,  through  all  our  homes  we  would  feel 
indeed  the  vastness  of  our  loss.  So  when  the  youth  of 
.  promise  dies  we  deplore  what  might  have  been,  but  when 
the  matured  man  of  genius,  ability  and  faith  departs,  we- 
feel  that  light  has  gone  from  our  dwellings  and  our  souls 
are  enshrouded  in  measureless  gloom.  Especially  is  this 
the  case  when  to  the  bereavement  is  added  circumstances 
of  peculiar  terror  under  which  it  has  taken  place.  Such 
circumstances  were  not  wanting  to  intensify  our  grief 
when  the  messenger  "  death  "  summoned  our  friend  to 
stand  before  his  Judge. 

"In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump,"  it  is  written,  shall  they  who  live  at  our  Lord's 
second  coming  be  changed,  passing  without  decay  into 
the  immortal  blessedness.  Frequently  has  this  wonderful 
transformation  beert  foreshadowed  and  anticipated.  By 
sea  and  land,  in  ways  without  number,  in  storm,  collision, 
accident  and  violence,  or  in  the  peaceful  suspension  of  ^he 
heart-beat — "in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  " — has  the  spirit 
been  emancipated  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
God.  Imagination  cannot  refrain  from  heightening  the 
horrors  attending  this  transition,  especially  when  accom- 
panied by  the  crash,  the  wreck,  and  agony  of  a  scene 
such  as  marked  the  close  of  Mr.  Hoyne's  career.  Yet 
though  such  feelings  are  natural  at  the  time  of  the  event, 
and  though  the  character  of  the  event  cannot  fail  then  to 
sliock  and  make  us  realize  more  deeply  the  extent  of  our 


loss,  with  the  lapse  of  da3's  and  weeks  should  come  u 
soberer  judgment  and  a  calmer  spirit.  In  truth  it  is  of 
little  matter  how  we  die,  so  long  as  we  are  prepared.  At 
the  best  "  the  bodv  lives  but  a  pulse's  stroke,"  and  if  the 
climax  comes  without  note  of  warning,  if  "  in  the  twink- 
ling  of  an  eye  "  the  end  comes,  it  should  never  be  for- 
gotten— 

— "  that  moments  like  to  these 
Rend  men's  lives  into  immortalities." 

When  I  hear  of  the  sudden  "  taking  off"  of  one  ap- 
proaching age,  whose  past  has  been  full  of  honor,  and 
whose  future  is  still  full  of  promise,  I  cannot  but  think  of 
the  poet's  words,  which,  with  some  modification,  are  appli- 
cable to  our  bereavement:  |   .   ■ ;..  ■  '. 

"  Death  is  but  jealous  of  thj  mild  decay,  ■• 

Which  gently  wins  thee;  exulting  age  .    !' 

Provokes  the  ghastly  monarch's  sudden  stride       .   •    .     ■ 
And  makes  his  horrid  fingers  quick  to  clasp 
His  shivering  prey  at  eventide." 

The  sharpness  and  suddenness  of  Mr.  Hox'ne's  end  has 
fulfilled  its  purpose.  The  lurid  background  has  served 
to  bring  into  clearer  relief  the  excellencies  of  his  char- 
acter, and  it  has  added  intensity  to  our  grief  and  apprecia- 
tion ;  but  it  should  neither  lead  us  to  regard  him  who  met 
such  a  death  as  unfavored  and  forsaken  by  the  Supreme, 
nor  lead  us  morbidly  to  mourn  as  those  who  have  no 
hope.  :  I  ■      .      '     /. 

Mrs.  Browning   in   one  of  her  sonnets  asks  tenderly — 

"  When  some  beloved  voice  that  was  to  you 
Both  sound  and  sweetness,  failelh  suddenly, 
And  silence  against  which  you  dare  not  cry 
Aches  round  you  like  a  strong  disease,  and  now-^ 
What  liope  .'  what  help  1  what  music  will  undo 
That  silence  to  vour  sense  .'" 


126 


?x'pardcd  as  a  public  loss.  When  the  lyre  is  out  of  tune 
wc  miss  the  harmony,  but  when  its  strings  are  broken, 
\\i-  \v«  -n  that  i;s  music  shall  be  heard  no  more  forever. 
When  the  jjleaming  meteor  falls  through  the  sky  we  are 
iimaretl  at  its  passing  splendor,  and  grieve  that  it  should 
so  <irNin  be  eclipsed  in  ilarkness:  but  were  the  sun  to  rush 
from  its  centre,  through  all  our  homes  we  would  feel 
ind<H-d  the  vastness  of  our  loss.  So  when  the  vouth  of 
promise-  dies  we  deplore  what  might  have  been, but  when 
the  matured  man  of  genius,  ability  and  faith  departs,  we 
feel  that  light  has  gone  from  our  dwellings  and  our  souls 
are  tfishroutk-d  in  mt'asureless  gloom.  Especiallv  is  this 
the  case  when  to  the  bereavement  is  added  circumstances 
of  jxvuliar  terror  under  which  it  has  taken  place.  Such 
tircumstances  weie  not  wanting  to  intensify  our  grief 
when  the  messengi'r  -death"  suiiimoned  our  friend  to 
•'land  K-fore  his  Judgi-. 

"In  .1  momeni.  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump."  it  i^  written,  shall  the\'  \\ h<i  live  at  our  Lord's 
MHond  coming  be  changed,  passing  without  decay  into 
the  immortal  blessedness.  F?equentlv  has  this  wonderful 
transformation  been  foreshadowed  and  anticipated.  By 
s«a  antl  land,  in  ways  without  number,  in  storm,  collision, 
acc»<icnt  ,ind  \  ioK-nci-.  or  in  the  jieaceful  suspension  of  the 
heart-K-at  "in  the  twinkling  of  an  eve  " — has  the  spirit 
N-en  emancipated  into  tlie  glorious  libert)'  of  the  sons  of 
«tih1.  Ima::ination  cannot  refrain  from  heightening  the 
liorrors  attending  this  transition,  especiallv  when  accom- 
]>ani»Hl  b\  tlu'  crash,  ilu-  wreck,  and  agonv  of  a  scene 
such  as  marked  the  close  of  Mr.  Hovne's  career.  Yet 
though  sucli  feelings  are  natural  at  the  time  of  the  event. 
.\ni\  though  the  character  of  the  event  cannot  fail  then  to 
^hock  ami  m.ike  us  rt'alize   more  deejilv  tiie  extent  of  our 


127 

loss,  with  tlie  lapse  of  days  and  weeks  should  come  -i 
soberer  judgment  and  a  calmer  spirit.  In  truth  it  is  of 
little  matter  how  we  die,  so  long  as  we  are  prepared.  At 
the  best  "  the  body  lives  but  a  pulse's  stroke,"  and  if  the 
climax  comes  without  note  of  warning,  if  "  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye  "  the  end  comes,  it  should  never  be  for- 
gotten— 

— "  that  moments  like  to  these  " 

Rend  men's  lives  into  immortalities."  ■: 

When  I  hear  of  the  sudden  "  taking  oft""  of  one  ap- 
proaching age,  whose  past  has  been  full  of  honor,  and 
whose  future  is  still  full  of  promise,  I  cannot  but  think  of 
the  poet's  words,  which,  with  some  modification,  are  appli- 
cable to  our  bereavement:  |       ..       .    •  • 

"  Death  is  but  jealous  ot"  thy  mild  decay, 
,  Which  gently  wins  thee;  exulting  age  •.       ■ 

Provokes  the  ghastly  monarch's  sudden  stride 
And  makes  his  horrid  fingers  quick  to  clasp  . 

His  shivering  prey  at  eventide." 

The  sharpness  and  suddenness  of  Mr.  Ho3'ne's  end  has 
fulfilled  its  purpose.  The  lurid  background  has  served 
to  bring  into  clearer  relief  the  excellencies  of  his  char- 
acter, and  it  has  added  intensity  to  our  grief  and  apprecia- 
tion; but  it  should  neither  lead  us  to  regard  him  who  met 
such  a  death  as  unfavored  and  forsaken  by  the  Supreme, 
nor  lead  us  morbidly  to  mourn  as  those  who  have  no 
hope.  \      '";   7-   ■    • 

Mrs.  Browning   in  one  of  her  sonnets  asks  tenderly-  - 

"  When  some  beloved  voice  that  was  to  you  - 

Both  sound  and  sweetness,  faileth  suddenly, 
And  silence  against  which  you  dare  not  cry 
Aches  r<jund  you  like  a  strong  disease,  and  now —  .   • 

What  hope  .'  what  help  .'  what  music  will  undo 
That  silence  to  vour  sense  .'" 


128  ■     :■"■  ,    'j-     ■ 

Xor  does  she  leave  the  inquiry  unanswered.  She  shows 
that  friendship  then  will  not  suffice,  nor  the  subtleties  of 
thought,  nor  melody,  nor  songs  of  poets  and  of  birds;  no, 
none  of  these  can  repair  the  silence, —        * 

— "  nor  yet  the  spheric  laws 
Self-chantccl,  nor  the  angels' sweet  '  All  hails,' 
Met  in  the  smile  of  God.     Nay,  none  of  these. 
Sjpeak  Tiiou,  availing  Christ!  and  fill  this  pause!" 

She  says  truly.  Human  words,  however  soft  and  elo- 
quent, can  never  sound  to  the  bereaved  like  the  voice 
that  is  hushed  and  dumb.  Nor  can  earthl}'  consolations 
a\ail  to  reconcile  the  stricken  soul  to  God's  afflicting  prov- 
idence. Christ  alone  can  fill  the  pause.  To  that  Christ 
^we  affectionately  commend  this  widowed  wife  and  these 
fatherless  children,  knowing  that  He  who  ever  succored 
the  sorrowing  on  earth  will  not  be  deaf  to  their  entreaties. 
We  would  have  them  remember  that  He  knows  how  to 
sympathize  with  us,  for  He  tasted  our  griefs.  He  Him- 
self entered  into  the  darkness,  and  cried  "  My  God,  my 
"God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  in  the  dreary  hour 
of  the  cross,  feeling  that  the  Father's  face  had  been  with- 
drawn, and  he  abandoned  to  His  terrible  agon}^  But  it 
was  not  so.  That  Father  was  not  afar  off.  The  morning 
of  His  countenance  broke  through  and  dispersed  the  en- 
shrouding night,  and  emerging  from  its  gloom  the  Master 
triumphantly  exclaimed,  "  It  is  finished  " — finished  the 
doubt,  the  anguish  and  the  fear.  So  j'ou,  my  friends,  in 
this  hour  of  your  trial,  may  fear  that  the  All  Father  has 
a  controversy  with  you,  that  His  love  for  you  has  grown 
cold,  and  His  care  of  you  relaxed.  But  it  is  not  so.  You 
are  in  the  darkness;  but  He  is  in  the  darkness  too.  Draw 
near  to  that  Jesus  who  went  there  before  you  seeking  the 
Father's    face,  and,    after    the    moment's    loneliness   and 


:-X89' 


desolation  found  it;  and  He  will  sustain  you  and  comfort 
j'ou,  and  will  kindly  lead  j'ou  into  the  light  where  you 
will  see  the  countenance  divine  lit  up  with  love  and  grace, 
and  where  you  will  read  the  solution  of  this  mystery. 
Then  will  you  take  up  the  exulting  cry  of  Jesus,  "  It  is 
finished!"  Finished  forever  these  painful  doubts,  and 
finished  forevermore  this  sense  of  weary  solicitude.  Anil 
by  and  by,  when  life  itself  shall  be  completed,  and  you 
meet  the  loved  one  on  the  radiant  shore,  then  will  you 
confess  that  though  the  Father  led  you  by  ways  which 
you  knew  not  here,  and  sometimes  made  the  light  dark- 
ness about  your  feet,  He  never  really  left  or  forsook  you 
in  the  time  of  need. 


@(l7Ct»tt»s    l^ogtnjft* 


Bx  Eugene  J.  Haix. 


I  hold  that  one  who  lives  and  dies, 
Who  leaves  an  impress  on  his  time 

For  good,  beyond  the  grave  shall  rise 
To  heights  more  splendid  and  sublime  ; 

That  what  is  great  and  good  on  earth. 
In  heaven  shall  yet  more  brightly  shine  ; 

That  every  soul  of  honest  worth 
Shall  live  immortal  and  divine; 

That  every  noble  human  mind, 
That  leaves  a  worldly  record  fair, 

Beyond  this  life  shall  be  refined, 
And  shine  with  fadeless  lustre  there. 

To-day  a  good  man  died,  whose  name 
And  face  familiar  many  knew — 

Not  great  in  what  the  world  calls  fame. 
But  great  in  manhood,  strong  and  true. 

With  generous  hand  his  means  he  gave 
To  benefit  and  bless  his  kind  ; 

And,  while  he  slumbers  in  the  grave. 
He  will  not  fade  from  sight  and  mind — 

For  men  who  pass  where  hushed  he  lies 
In  death's  mysterious  twilight  gray, 

Shall  read  his  name  with  grateful  eyes — 
Shall  reverently  pause  and  say  : 

Here  sleeps,  in  undisturbed  rejjose, 
Here  with  the  dust  in  silence  blends, 

A  man  whose  manhood  made  his  foes 
His  strongest  and  most  steadfast  friends. 


/  .. 


